Davis educator put away for relationship with teen

FARMINGTON — Kathryn Louise Parmley, a former Davis School District educator, was sentenced to a year in jail and ordered to get psychiatric treatment Monday for misdemeanor sexual battery involving a 17-year-old boy.

Parmley, 49, originally was charged with two counts of third-degree felony unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year-old, which could potentially have carried five year prison sentences for each had she been convicted.

Instead, Parmley pleaded guilty to two class A misdemeanor counts of sexual battery as part of a plea bargain. Individuals convicted of that crime do not have to register as a sex offender. Parmley's husband, Rich, is a Weber County prosecutor.

Second District Judge Jon Memmott imposed two years in jail on the misdemeanor counts but suspended one year and ordered that Kathryn Parmley be allowed work release and treatment release privileges during the time she is in jail.

The judge said he was "very concerned" that Parmley did not appear to have fully taken responsibility for what occurred between her, then age 48, and the high school boy. Referring to a pre-sentence report and a psycho-sexual evaluation, Memmott said it seems Parmley "substantially minimized what took place" and tends to "shift the blame to the victim." The judge accepted a recommendation from Adult Probation and Parole that Parmley get treatment along with a polygraph test so that she acknowledges what exactly occurred and her role in it. Otherwise, Memmott said, the information he has indicates Parmley is at an "elevated risk" of doing something like this again.

He also put her on probation for 36 months with several conditions, including forbidding her from being around anyone under age 18 including her 4-year-old grandson, whom she had been tending three times a week. That probation condition can be lifted depending on the results of regular court reviews of her progress in treatment, Memmott said. The first review hearing is set for Sept. 17.

Her defense attorney, John Caine, told the judge Parmley has denied certain more serious allegations the boy made, even during the plea negotiations, and that if this case had gone to trial, there were defenses against what the boy said took place.

"We don't want to disparage the victim," Caine said. "She is therefore admitting there was sexual battery — touching."

He said she admits her conduct was "probably reckless and inappropriate."