Mom of 4 admits to 11 felonies

OREM — A 37-year-old mother of four pleaded guilty Thursday to 11 felony counts of unlawful sexual conduct involving five teenage boys.

Leisa Ward of Nephi was arrested Nov. 19 after police investigated community "rumors" that turned out to be true, said Nephi Police Officer Derek Walk.

Apparently, the illegal — though consensual — sexual acts began with "flirting that got out of hand," Walk said. They then expanded to include five teenage boys ages 16 or 17, from August until early November.

"These relationships were kind of intermingled in the time frame," Walk said. "It was like an ongoing relationship among most of the boys during the same time."

Ward was not in a position of trust and met the boys through interaction in the community, not through her children, Walk said.

Thursday's entry of a plea in Juab's 4th District Court comes less than two months after the case was filed.

"We had an early indication from her counsel that she wanted to accept responsibility for it and move into the process of the consequences," said AnnMarie Howard, Deputy Juab County Attorney.

Ward will be sentenced Feb. 28.

The case was shocking to the 6,000-resident Nephi, where nearly everyone knows everyone else

"Obviously it's caused some problems for her children," said Ward's attorney Mike Esplin. "They're dealing with it, (going to) family counseling. (They want to) try and get the thing behind her as best (they) can."

He called Ward's actions an "aberration of conduct." She has no other felonies on her record.

Both Ward's and her husband's extended families were in court to support and stand behind her 100 percent, Esplin said.

It's not the first time Esplin has represented a female charged with sex crimes, but the number of victims is a bit unusual.

"I've been here about 12 years and never seen this many (charges)," Howard said. "Not this extensive; not this many boys."

"I've had cases where I've had female predators, if that's what you want to call them, on younger males and where we filed charges and she did jail time, but never with more than one victim," Walk said.

In speaking with those victims, Walk said, their reactions varied.

"Some don't feel like victims," he said. "They're ashamed of what they (did). They feel that they have made some mistakes in this as well. Some of them are having a hard time, (while) some of them don't think it's a big deal."

The law would allow for prosecution of the boys as well, but that wasn't pursued, Walk said.

Ward's plea deal stated that the county would not file any more charges, although right now prosecutors don't believe there are more victims.

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