Probation officer gives office BJ to boot-camp teen
Weird Teacher Watch: Valynne Bowers Admits to Rape & Sodomy with Student, Refuses Plea Deals
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at 9:00 am
One scarred kid, one lonely teacher, and two months of serenaded sodomy can only mean one thing: It's time again for Weird Teacher Watch, our weekly reminder that your leering old algebra teacher wasn't so creepy after all.
In today's episode, a confession of sexual misconduct with a student has morphed into unlikely indignation from a middle school teacher near Salt Lake City.
Valynne Bowers, 40, has rejected a pair of plea deals stemming from accusations of five counts of rape and three counts of sodomy of a student at Bountiful Junior High, where she taught math. Though all eight counts are first-degree felonies punishable with up to life in prison, one of the rejected deals likely would have resulted in probation with no jail time.
Police say Bowers admitted having a sexual relationship with the student in early 2009, when he was 13. She also offered a written statement claiming her acts were driven by loneliness and depression.
The plea options fell apart when the defense insisted that Bowers be permitted to back out if the arrangement resulted in a prison sentence.
The prosecution has said no further deals will be offered, and now a fate worse than probation appears to be in store for Bowers. Her defense team contends that none of the alleged sex took place on school grounds and that Bowers was not the boy's teacher at the time -- two claims that don't exactly absolve one from fornicating with a child.
In hearings last year, the boy admitted to his role in the twisted relationship: He showed up for after-school math help in late 2008 and used Bowers' cell phone to send himself a message. He then began communicating with her about his problems -- including sexual molestation he had suffered earlier in his childhood.
The two graduated to phone sex, then to old-fashioned sex by January 2009. Shortly after, the boy started giving Bowers guitar lessons intermingled with sex sessions every Friday for a month and a half.
Their relationship blew up in March 2009 when another teacher at Bountiful, 46-year-old Linda Nef, told police she had been shtupping the boy a year earlier and that Bowers had more recently taken her turn with him.
In July 2009, Nef pleaded guilty to one count of attempted sex abuse of a child and was sentenced to three years to life in prison.
Catch up with last Wednesday's Weird Teacher: Soccer Coach Emily Patterson Accused of Fondling Female Student.
Tags: Utah, Weird Teacher Watch
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