Judge rejects reduced bail for Wasilla man accused of sexually abusing 8 children amid potential for more victims

PALMER — Seth Loggins is accused of sexually abusing at least eight Mat-Su children between the ages of 4 and 14.

Authorities who already describe his case as one of the worst they've seen say there could be still more victims: Loggins drove a school bus for two years.

The 27-year-old truck driver from Wasilla sat silently in a Palmer courtroom Tuesday as the angry families of the children he's accused of molesting begged a judge not to reduce his bail.

"Maggot!" one woman hissed at Loggins after he entered the courtroom in bright orange jail scrubs.

Palmer Superior Court Judge Kari Kristiansen rejected reduced bail for Loggins and kept it at the current amount: $250,000 cash and $50,000 cash corporate.

His public defender had asked for to $100,000 cash corporate — Loggins could be released by posting as little as 10 percent through a bail bondsman– and $15,000 cash.

Kristiansen said the scope of the case is unprecedented in her time on the bench.

"I've not seen something of this nature before," she said.

Loggins spanked his victims and penetrated them with a sex toy, according to charging documents filed in the case. Loggins took the children to the Extreme Fun Center in Wasilla or a popular playground.

The sexual abuse took place in different locations including his apartment, his mother's home, and once at church, according to a sworn affidavit filed with the complaint.

Loggins took two boys to Dairy Queen and, while parked, choked one until he passed out, according to the affidavit filed by Alaska State Trooper Shannon Fore. It took a minute to revive him.

He silenced his victims by threatening them with guns, a knife or a Taser, assistant district attorney Brittany Dunlop said during Tuesday afternoon's hearing.

Before her decision, Kristiansen heard from a series of adults pleading for protection and lashing out in anger and grief.

Their children have changed, they said. Their grades suffered. They stopped eating. They don't want to go to church again.

Relief came only once Loggins was jailed, one mother said.

All spoke out against a lower bail and making it easier for him to get out of jail, arguing he could come after their children, endanger other potential victims or flee the state.

"You release this man and look at all these families here," said one man, grandfather to an 8-year-old boy from Palmer. "My God! He did sex abuse against my grandson. If you let this guy go, you know how much punishment you're going to do to our families here?"

Several women could be heard sobbing. A man covered his face with his coat collar and wept silently.

"You can't really put a price on taking my son's innocence from him and from me," the mother of an 11-year-old Wasilla boy said.

Kristiansen asked reporters covering the hearing not to name family members or show photographs of their faces to protect the identities of the victims in the case.

Originally charged with abusing four boys from 8 to 11, Loggins was indicted by a Palmer grand jury last week and now faces 16 counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor for eight victims.

Troopers say they believe there are more.

Dunlop said Loggins, who worked for First Student Inc. as a school bus driver, was the subject of "significant complaints" made about his contact with children. None of the charges appear to involve children who rode buses he drove.

A First Student representative said in an interview Tuesday that Loggins worked for the company from 2012 to 2014. She couldn't identify which routes he drove.

"We are working with authorities to support their investigation," said spokeswoman Jen Biddinger. "Given that this is an active investigation, we don't have details really that we can share."

If convicted of the charges against him, Loggins faces more than 100 years in prison, Dunlop said.

The mother of an 11-year-old victim said during the hearing that she trusted Loggins and knew and respected his family. He wanted to be a trooper. She let him watch her son.

She told the judge to let the bail stand to encourage other children to report abuse — and reward the ones who did.

"These children were brave enough to come forward," she said. "They carried this for so long."