2 accused of lying in teacher sexual abuse hearing

Two men who testified in a January hearing in the case of a West High School teacher accused of having sex with a 16-year-old student, now face felony charges after prosecutors say they lied about their sexual contact with the same girl.

In a Jan. 12 hearing for West High School teacher Jose Bernardo Fanjul, Bozhidar D. Petajan, 26, and Augustine Allotey, 30, both gave statements under oath that they had never had any sexual contact with the girl. But the girl told investigators that in the past she had sexual contact with both men, according to the charges.

After further investigation into their testimony, Petajan admitted to investigators that he lied in court that day, and that he did in fact have sexual contact with the girl, with whom he worked at the time, the charges said.

Allotey testified in the hearing that he did not have sexual intercourse with the girl, who was 15 at the time she claims it happened, and he also said that she had never been inside his home, according to the charges.

But during an investigation into the statements, "(the girl) provided a detailed description of the defendant's residence including his bedroom, which is located in the basement area that is not visible from any open area on the main level of the residence," the charges said.

Allotey was charged Thursday with false or inconsistent material statements, a second-degree felony, unlawful sexual activity with a minor, a third-degree felony, and obstructing justice, a class-A misdemeanor.

Petajan was also charged with false or inconsistent material statements, a second-degree felony, and obstruction of justice, a third-degree felony.

The charges add a new element to the Fanjul case, which is scheduled for trial next week.

After that January hearing, 3rd District Judge Ann Boyden granted a motion to allow Fanjul's defense attorney's to talk about statements the girl made about previous adult sexual partners.

Utah law does not allow, under most circumstances, the sexual history of sex abuse victims to be brought up in court unless it's relevant to the case. At the time, Fanjul's defense argued the issue was not about the victim's prior sexual relations but about whether or not she was a liar.

When contacted by the Deseret News Thursday, Fanjul's attorneys declined to comment about Allotey and Petajan being charged.

Fanjul, 46, is an award-winning social studies and world language teacher who also coached the high school girls volleyball team. Fanjul won the state's No Child Left Behind 2007 American Star of Teaching Award.

He was arrested at the school in September 2008, and is currently on administrative leave.

He is charged with five counts of forcible sodomy, all first-degree felonies, and five counts of forcible sexual abuse, all second-degree felonies.

E-MAIL: ethomas@desnews.com