UVU counselor accused of soliciting sex from juvenile on Internet

OREM — An academic counselor at Utah Valley University and a former junior high school teacher was arrested Friday after police say he tried entice a 15-year-old girl on the Internet.

The teen girl, however, turned out to be an undercover police officer.

Russell Betts, 31, of Spanish Fork, was booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of five counts of enticing a minor over the Internet. Betts told police he was a junior high teacher and a UVU adviser.

On Thursday, an investigator with the Utah County Sheriff's Office, posing as a 15-year-old girl, struck up a conversation in a chat room with Betts, according to an affidavit filed in 4th District Court.

Police say Betts has been talking for two years with task force officers from Price and Provo as well, using different user names. He talked to each officer more than 15 times, according to court records. Those conversations included sexually explicit talk, offers of meeting for intercourse and requests for pictures, the affidavit states.

Betts admitted to police having risque pictures of 15- to 17-year-old girls on his computer. He stated that he "has never touched any of his students," according to the affidavit.

— Pat Reavy