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- Keaton Jason Tanner, a Pleasant Grove Junior High teacher, was charged Monday with rape of a child.
- The investigation began after a friend reported Tanner's alleged year-and-a-half relationship with a student.
- Tanner is also charged with offering the victim money to stay quiet.
PLEASANT GROVE — Criminal charges were filed Monday against a teacher at Pleasant Grove Junior High School accused of sexually abusing a student.
Keaton Jason Tanner, 29, of American Fork, a social studies teacher, is charged in 4th District Court with rape of a child, a first-degree felony; and two counts of witness tampering, a third-degree felony.
The investigation began Feb. 18 when a friend of a teen girl reported to police that Tanner "was involved in a sexual relationship with the victim for about a year-and-a-half when she was approximately 12-13 years old," the charges state. The illegal "relationship" allegedly happened a couple of years ago.
"It was reported that the victim had sexual intercourse with (Tanner) at his residence," according to the charges, which add that the teen referred to Tanner as her "boyfriend" and said the relationship ended after he "became aggressive" toward her.
After the victim and her friend went to Tanner's house in February to confront him, Tanner "offered the victim money to keep quiet" in a conversation that was recorded on a cellphone, the charging documents allege.
Police went to Pleasant Grove Junior High to talk to school administrators as part of their investigation.
"The administration responded that they likely knew which victim was involved given that the school had to tell (Tanner) to stop bringing the victim into his classroom alone all of the time," the charges state.
The school also reported Tanner had requested a week earlier "to take a one-year sabbatical so he could go to Germany and work." The paperwork was submitted shortly after the victim and her friend confronted Tanner, according to the charges. Tanner also allegedly told current students that he was in a relationship and "needed to leave the country and go back to Germany because of what was happening in the relationship."
He was arrested Wednesday. The Alpine School District said Tanner was placed on administrative leave following his arrest.
