The man who burned down the Whitefish High School gym in 1977 now faces a felony charge of sexual assault for allegedly molesting a child for nearly three years.

Bruce Frey, a 56-year-old Whitefish native, is alleged to have molested a girl from the ages of 6 to 8 almost every other day.

Frey pleaded not guilty Thursday in Flathead District Court to the charge, for which he could face between four and 100 years in jail if convicted.

A court document alleges Frey touched the girl sexually over her clothing on a regular basis between Jan. 1, 2004, and Aug. 31, 2006. It states that in the final incident he touched her under her clothes during a camping trip with the girl and her mother.

The girl reportedly told her mother of the camping incident, but she didn’t report it because her daughter asked her not to.

During the hearing, Frey’s attorney requested his immediate release for medical reasons, stating that Frey was going blind and needed emergency surgery in Salt Lake City. District Judge Ted Lympus refused to address any release during that hearing because no one had mentioned the issue to prosecutors.

As of Friday afternoon, Frey still was in the Flathead County Detention Center.

Along with other past convictions for theft and dealing drugs, Frey was convicted in 1984 of setting fire to the Whitefish High School gym.

The fire destroyed roughly one third of the school and necessitated a $3.2 million rebuilding project. Also destroyed were the school’s band instruments, basketball and football uniforms and equipment, sports trophies and 800 reams of paper.

Frey was not arrested until 1981 in Golden, Colo., and a trial was not held until February 1984, seven years after the fire.

Lympus, now the judge in the sexual assault case, was the Flathead County attorney at the time and led the prosecution of Frey.

According to a confession provided to Golden police by Frey after his arrest, he first broke into school vending machines and attempted to saw into the coin box of a pay phone before making a torch out of rolled-up paper and lighting curtains on fire.

Frey’s court-appointed attorney attempted to gain a verdict of not guilty by reason of mental defect — citing in particular Frey’s witnessing his father’s suicide at the age of 8, his use of psychedelic drugs in the hours preceding the fire and a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Despite the effort, he was convicted of negligent arson.

Frey was sentenced to 18 months in jail and 14 and a half years of probation and also was designated a persistent felony offender.

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com.