Posted on 03/08/2009 8:25:00 PM PDT by WL-law
Two Bountiful Junior High School teachers are accused of sexually assaulting the same 13-year-old student, after their separate relationships with him spiraled from personal conversations to the exchange of sexual text messages and phone sex, authorities said.
On Friday, the Davis County Attorney's Office filed first-degree felony charges of rape and sodomy on a child against Linda R. Nef, 46, and Valynne Bowers, 39.
Nef, a Utah studies teacher and cheerleading adviser, and Bowers, who teaches math, each confessed to having sex with the student, said Bountiful Police Lt. Randy Pickett. Until recently, the two teachers did not know about each other's relationship with the same boy, Pickett said.
The charges were filed after Nef arranged a meeting with police on Thursday and admitted having sex with the boy for more than a year, Pickett said. Their sexual relationship allegedly began in October 2007 and lasted until December 2008, he said.
During the meeting, Nef revealed Bowers' relationship with the boy, Pickett said. Bowers allegedly began having sex with him in December, and she also has acknowledged the relationship, he said.
Nef was booked into the Davis County Jail on Friday afternoon and has her first court appearance scheduled for 1:30 p.m. March 27.
Bowers also was arrested and booked into the jail on Friday, Pickett said. She later appeared in court, where she waived her right to a preliminary hearing and was ordered to stand trial. A felony arraignment in her case is scheduled for 9 a.m. March 16.
Nef, who began her career with the Davis County School District in 2004 as a physical education teacher at Taylor Elementary School, resigned from her post at the junior high on Monday, said school district spokesman Chris Williams.
Bowers was placed on administrative leave while district officials conduct their own investigation. Bowers has taught in the district since 1996 and was an elementary school teacher for nine years before she transferred to Bountiful Junior High in 2006, Williams said.
"So far, there is nothing to indicate that there are any other students involved, or any other faculty or employees involved," Pickett said.
In separate conversations, the boy and the two teachers began discussing personal problems, Pickett said. That led to text messages, including ones involving sexual matters, then phone sex and the alleged sexual assaults, Pickett said.
The investigation so far indicates none of the alleged sex acts occurred at the school, Pickett said. Instead, the teachers allegedly went with the student to homes, parking lots or parks in Bountiful, Woods Cross, Farmington and Kaysville.
Williams said parents picking up their children from the school Friday expressed disbelief and shock. Jenifer Wright, whose eighth-grade daughter attends the school, said the news alarmed her.
"It makes me very worried. I'm very protective about my children," she said.
Holly Ruhr, whose seventh-grade daughter attends the school, said she is not worried by the charges because she has been "impressed in every way" by Bountiful Junior High.
"My daughter is thrilled to go to class every day," she said. "This is just a case of one or two teachers. Not a bad school."
Another parent struggled to believe the allegations, defending Bowers as a great teacher.
Unable to assess guilt from the given information.
They’re guilty, too.
Does he get extra credit?
Ack! Omg. Both guilty.
A pattern of abuse.....http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2201640/posts
oh brother... just a case of two teachers having sex with one of the students... the student is a boy, so no big deal... /s
Bountiful is.
They will be out in 6 months if they even get that.
This is a public school?
There are at least 2000 cases PER YEAR of public school child sexual abuse.
Yet the focus of the news seems to be going back 30 or even 40 years to find ONE case of a Catholic priest or teacher abusing a child.
Polygamist in training. Just tell the DA you thought this boy was the second coming of Joseph Smith.
Oh!!!!! BOUNTIFUL is the CITY!!!!
I thought it was a misprint and it was suppose to be “beautiful” junior high school teachers.
I got REALLY confused when I saw the pics.
Capital Punishment level of guilty
For ages 46 and 39, they don’t look bad.
Although the older one could stand to lose a few.
Deferred adjudication. No-one looks good in a mug shot.
It's the younger one who is overweight.
There’s something fishy here. TWO separate teachers around the same time start into a relationship with this boy, and neither one knows about it for a while? Then, when one finds out, she turns herself into the police and tells them about the other one?
I don’t buy it. In this particular case, I’m inclined to say the boy was looking for sex with a teacher and just happened to find not one, but two, teachers who were willing... or maybe the teachers both knew about each others’ relationships for longer than they said they did and there was something else going on that they weren’t telling. Either way, the chance of two separate teachers deciding to pursue a relationship with the same boy at the same time is just astronomically improbable...
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