Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
FARMINGTON -- A former Bountiful Junior High School teacher Monday pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual activity with a 14-year-old student two years ago.
Valynne Bowers, 41, pleaded guilty to two counts of forcible sexual abuse, both second-degree felonies. She was originally charged with eight first-degree felonies including five counts of rape and three counts of forcible sodomy.
Bowers' defense attorney, Rich Gallegos, called it a "fair resolution."
"I think it's good for the victim. It's good for Valynne," he said. "I think it's middle of the road."
This was a deal when it was all said and done, it was the best-case scenario for everybody involved.
–Prosecutor Rick Westmoreland
Bowers had an affair with a 14-year-old male student from Jan. 2, 2009, until Feb. 27, 2009. Bowers worked as a teacher in the Davis County School District from 1996 to 2009, when she was placed on administrative leave. She worked for a decade at an elementary school before moving to Bountiful Junior High in 2006 to teach math.
Bowers had twice previously rejected plea deals. The case was originally scheduled to go to trial in April of 2010. Outside the courtroom Monday, Gallegos said the delay in the case was due to waiting for the judge to rule on the admissibility of defense evidence, specifically the conduct of the victim. Once it was denied, he said they entered into a plea bargain.
Prosecutor Rick Westmoreland concurred that it was a good resolution to the case.
"This was a deal when it was all said and done, it was the best-case scenario for everybody involved. I think it was best for our victim. ... It protected him from having to get on the stand," he said.
Outside the courtroom Monday, Gallegos said the delay in the case was due to waiting for the judge to rule on the admissibility of defense evidence, specifically the conduct of the victim. Once it was denied, he said they entered into a plea bargain.
Gallegos said his client also was never willing to plead guilty to a first-degree felony.
"That's unacceptable to us," he said.
Bowers' case came to the attention of authorities after another teacher, Linda Nef, 47, confessed to having sexual activity with the boy when he was 13. Nef pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, as part of a plea bargain and was sentenced to three years to life in prison in July 2009.
But Gallegos said the circumstances surrounding Nef and Bowers' crimes were different. When Bowers is sentenced on April 2, he said they will ask the judge for probation.
"She's made some strides while this case has been pending and we're going to ask the court to consider probation," he said.
Westmoreland, however, said prosecutors will be asking for a much stronger sentence.
"We're going to be asking for prison," he said. "We think this is a matter that it should be a prison case."
Bowers faces a possible sentence of one to 15 years for each count she was convicted. Prosecutors said they intend to ask for the maximum penalty on each and that the sentences run consecutively, meaning she could be sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Gallegos described Bowers as having a "rough couple of years," but that she was "taking responsibility" for what she had done and is doing better now.
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com . Photo: Djamila Grossman
