Teacher seeks hearing in teen sex case

Valynne Bowers, a Bountiful Junior High School teacher who is charged with engaging in sex acts with a 14-year-old boy, is seeking a preliminary hearing in her case, according to state court records. No date has been set.

Bowers, 40, is charged with rape and forcible sodomy, both first-degree felonies.

Her defense attorney, Rich Gallegos, last month told 2nd District Judge Michael Allphin that no resolution had been reached with prosecutors as far as plea bargain.

Outside the courtroom, Gallegos said a key problem in the negotiations was the idea that Bowers was in "a position of special trust" with the teen because she was his former math teacher. Gallegos does not believe that is the case.

"Nothing occurred during school hours, the contact was not initiated by her," Gallegos said then. "She never used her position as a teacher. The victim came around to see her. Our position is she's not a teacher when she goes home and is on her own time."

Gallegos said that if plea negotiations did not work out, it was quite likely that Bowers' case would go to trial.

Another Bountiful Junior High teacher, Linda Nef, 46, has pleaded guilty to an amended charge of attempted aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony. That had been reduced substantially from the original charges, which carried minimum mandatory sentences of 25 years to life in prison because Nef engaged in sexual activity with the same boy when he was 13, which carries far stiffer penalties.

The crime to which Nef has pleaded guilty carries the potential for a prison sentence of three years to life in prison, but prosecutors have said that the victim and his family do not want Nef sent to prison. Ultimately, it will be up to 2nd District Judge Rodney Page as to whether Nef will get a suspended sentence and probation, or time behind bars. Her sentencing is set for July 21.

e-mail: lindat@desnews.com