Teachers arrested in junior high school sex scandal

BOUNTIFUL — Two junior high school teachers here have been charged with rape, accused of having sex with the same teenage boy.

The scandal at Bountiful Junior High has stunned students, parents, administrators, police and prosecutors alike.

It came to light when seventh-grade Utah history teacher Linda Nef, 46, went to authorities with her lawyer and admitted to an affair with a student, said Bountiful Police Lt. Randy Pickett.

"She confesses to having sex with a 13-year-old boy at Bountiful Junior High," Pickett said Friday. "He was one of her students."

Under questioning, Pickett said, Nef revealed that the boy was also having sex with another teacher, Valynne Bowers. Detectives then questioned the boy, whom police said admitted to having sex with both women. Bowers was questioned Thursday night and arrested.

Bowers, 39, was booked into the Davis County Jail early Friday and charged with rape and forcible sodomy, both first-degree felonies. She made a brief appearance Friday in Farmington's 2nd District Court. Bowers posted bail and was released from jail Friday night.

Police said Bowers told them her affair with the student occurred from Jan. 2 until Feb. 27, when he was 14. Nef is accused of carrying on an affair with the boy from December 2007 until Feb. 14, 2008, according to prosecutors.

"He was in her class," Pickett said of the boy. "Neither teacher knew of the other until recently."

Nef was charged late Friday with rape of a child and sodomy on a child, both first-degree felonies, and surrendered to police at the Davis County Jail, where she was booked and released pending a March 27 court appearance. Her attorney, Sean Druyon, declined to comment when contacted by the Deseret News on Friday.

Deputy Davis County attorney Richard Larsen said they are taking Nef's cooperation with authorities into account.

"I'm sure everybody involved has a desire to get this resolved as quickly as possible," Larsen said. "But we're not in a position where we can discuss plea negotiations. Our opinion is certainly we appreciate the cooperation and we're fully intending to take that into account."

At Bountiful Junior High, teachers were in "shock," said Davis School District spokesman Chris Williams.

"They are serious charges, and there's just absolutely certain lines you cannot cross as an educator," Williams said Friday.

Bowers has been a teacher in the Davis County School District since 1996, working for a decade at an elementary school before moving to Bountiful Junior High in 2006 to teach math. Williams said she has been placed on administrative leave.