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SALT LAKE CITY — A Cache County teacher facing charges of enticing a 14-year-old student had groomed the girl for several months by engaging in sexually explicit conversations with her, according to new court documents.
Duane Behrmann, 51, a teacher at South Cache Middle School, 10 S. 480 West in Hyrum, was charged April 12 in 1st District Court with two counts of enticing a minor, a second-degree felony; two counts of enticing a minor, a third-degree felony; and obstructing justice, a class A misdemeanor.
Media coverage of Behrmann's arrest prompted other former students to contact police to report similar allegations, according to a search warrant affidavit unsealed Wednesday.
"Three separate victims have been interviewed so far with similar stories matching that of the current victim. These victims reach back as far as eight years ago at South Cache Middle School when they were each 13 or 14 years old and in Mr. Behrmann’s class. One victim lives out of state and said she saved Facebook messages from Mr. Behrmann that were sexual in nature and of him asking if her parents looked at her Facebook Messenger," the warrant states.
The investigation into Behrmann began April 10 when a 14-year-old girl's parents notified authorities that they had "found a cellphone their daughter had been using to message the teacher. The parents were not aware that their daughter had this cellphone," according to the warrant.
The girl was interviewed by a social worker from the Division of Child and Family Services. She was one of Behrmann's students and said "she often stayed after school" with him and the two would have sexual conversations, the affidavit states.
"She disclosed other sexually inappropriate conversations Mr. Behrmann had with her when the two of them were alone in his classroom," investigators wrote.
Right before the Christmas break in December, Behrmann gave her his private email address that did not have his name attached to it, and the girl "created a secret email account, so she could communicate with her teacher over the break," the warrant states. She then bought a cellphone from another student to hide her conversations from her parents.
"There were 13 different dates where Mr. Behrmann sent sexually seducing messages in the attempt to groom and lure the child into a sexual relationship with him," the investigator wrote in the warrant.
The girl told police she and Behrmann would also text each other during class.
"Mr. Behrmann would message her from his school computer at his desk and her from her cellphone. I saw a message he sent to the child that talked about the need to be careful of what he was saying because he was not sure how much the school was monitoring his computer activity," the warrant states.
Related story:
Cache County teacher accused of enticing a student
A Hyrum teacher has been arrested for investigation of having an inappropriate relationship with a student.Police then used the teen girl's email account to ask Behrmann to bring a drink to school the next day. An officer was in the school parking lot watching as Behrmann arrived with the requested drink, the warrant states. He was arrested in his classroom before school started.
After his arrest, Behrmann told detectives he had been "grooming the child for several months," the warrant states. He claimed his original intention was simply to help the girl with some personal issues, "but their conversations turned sexual.
"I confronted him with the messages and told him there was no doubt his intent was that of a sexual predator and to eventually have a sexual relationship with his 14-year-old student," the officer continued writing in the affidavit. "Mr. Behrmann did not deny this statement. He told me to tell the child’s parents that the relationship was his fault and not the child’s. He knew there would be (consequences) for his actions and would be accountable for them."
Behrmann had been with the school since 2009. He was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. He is listed on the school's website as a history teacher.
His next court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday.
