Ex-teacher pleads not guilty in sex case

FARMINGTON — Valynne Bowers, a former Bountiful teacher charged with engaging in illegal sexual activity with a student, entered not guilty pleas on Thursday.

Bowers, 40, is charged with five counts of rape and three counts of forcible sodomy, all first-degree felonies, involving a 14-year-old boy.

Bowers, who had taught math at Bountiful Junior High School, had been the boy's teacher. Prosecutors say her position as the boy's former teacher and as a teacher in general at the school put her in a position of "special trust." However, her attorney, Rich Gallegos, has repeatedly disputed that and said nothing improper occurred during school hours and that Bowers did not use her role as teacher to initiate anything.

There have been no successful plea negotiations in the case so far.

Another Bountiful Junior High teacher, Linda Nef, 46, was sentenced to three years to life in July after confessing she had engaged in sexual activity with the same boy when he was 13 years old.

— Linda Thomson