Valynne Bowers Goes To Trial

40-year-old Valynne Asay Bowers, accused of having sex with a 14-year-old boy, who was a student at the same high school where she taught math - Bountiful Junior High - will go to trial. She faces 8 felony charges: five counts of rape and three counts of forcible sodomy. The charges carry a possible life sentence if she is found guilty.

Bowers is the second teacher to face charges of having sex with the same boy. Linda Richins Nef has already pleaded guilty to having sex with the boy when he was 13 years old. She has been sentenced to 3 years to life in prison.

For complete background details on this story check the following:

1. Boy Has Sex with 2 Teachers


2. Teachers worry about child victim


3. Linda Nef Takes Plea Deal

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Bowers was ordered to stand trial by Second District Judge Jon M. Memmott after a preliminary hearing determined that there was enough evidence to warrant one.

During the preliminary hearing, a police officer read aloud a confession and letter of apology that Bowers wrote with detectives. Investigators had apparently encouraged her to write the letter, telling her that it might help her case.

"He came to me as a responsible adult," Bowers allegedly wrote in the letter. "I violated so much trust."

"He was dealing with more than an adult can handle," she wrote. "I just tried to be a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on."

Bowers said she "tried to be a strong shoulder he could lean on."

Bowers lamented, however, "I began to lean on him. I didn't realize how lonely and depressed I was . . . "

She added: "I had no right to treat him as an adult. I'm sorry for all the damage I caused."

The boy also gave testimony at the hearing. He said he was the one who initiated sexual contact with his teacher. He went to her classroom after school, even though Bowers no longer was his teacher, and rummaged through her desk. He also sent her text messages and taught her guitar lessons at her home.

Yes, he said, he looked at pornography. Yes, members of his music band — some 17 or 18 years old — talked with him about sex. Yes, his family, in particular his stepfather, talked openly about intercourse because "he just likes to joke about it," the boy said. And yes, before he and Bowers had sex for the first time, he told her that he thought she was a "pushover."

Prosecutors, however, argued that as a teacher, Bowers was in a position of special trust and should never have engaged in sexual behavior with the child. That position of trust is why she was charged with first-degree felonies as opposed to lesser charges.

"A teacher doesn't stop being a teacher when the bell rings," prosecutor Richard Larsen said. "She was a teacher in his school. By nature of that position, they have authority over you."

Bowers' defense attorney, Rich Gallegos, noting that no sexual conduct occurred at school, and that Bowers was not the boy's teacher at the time of the alleged crimes, argued there was no teacher/student (special trust) relationship.

Rich Gallegos said there is ambiguity in the law on the issue of "position of trust."

"The law's not clear. There's no appellate guidance. So, this will be an issue of first impression. But, as the court indicated, it's a factual issue that will ultimately be determined by a jury," he said.

"The question is whether she used her position as a teacher to exploit this kid and I don't think the facts support that," Gallegos said. "He was not her direct student. He went to her classroom to obtain personal information so he could pursue her after hours."

According to testimony from police and the boy, the boy initiated contact with Bowers in December 2008 by showing up at her after-school math study sessions. He got her cell phone number by using her phone to send himself a message, then began texting and talking to her about his troubled past - including being sexually molested as a younger child - and other personal problems.

Later, the communications became joking and teasing, then sexual.

They first had phone sex, according to testimony. Then, on Jan. 2, they had sexual intercourse. The boy said they had sex twice that first time; Bowers said it was three times.

A week or two later the boy began giving Bowers 30-minute guitar lessons at her home, where they had sex every Friday night until Feb. 27. Bowers told police she tried to end the relationship, but the boy threatened to harm himself.

The relationship finally ended in early March when Linda Nef, 46, another Bountiful Junior High teacher who had a sexual relationship with the same boy when he was 13 years old, went to police and told them about herself and Bowers. She received a 3-year-to-life sentence.

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Linda Nef Goes to Prison

Judge Rodney Page sent 46-year-old Linda Nef to prison for three years to life, for first-degree felony attempted aggravated sexual abuse of a child. Nef was originally charged with first-degree felony counts of rape of a child and sodomy on a child, which carry mandatory prison terms of 25 years to life.

For complete background details on this story check the following:

1. Boy Has Sex with 2 Teachers


2. Teachers worry about child victim


3. Linda Nef Takes Plea Deal

Before her sentencing, Linda Nef apologized for her actions:

"I am so sorry for the pain you have been through ... as a result of my completely selfish actions," 46-year-old Linda Nef told the boy, who was 13 years old at the time.

A tearful Nef, 46, not only apologized to her victim and his family but also to   "educators everywhere who have been damaged by my actions," especially the faculty at Bountiful Junior High, whom she characterized as honorable and hard-working people.

"I loved teaching with all my heart — and yet I committed a crime," she said.

Nef pleaded guilty in June to a reduced charge of attempted aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, as part of a plea bargain in the hopes of avoiding a prison sentence. Possible sentencing ranged from probation to three years to life. In fact both her lawyer and the boy's lawyer urged judge to give her the minimum sentence of probation.

Sean Druyon, Nef's attorney, said mental-health and psychosexual examinations of Nef showed that she poses very little risk to the community or to re-offend, and that she is not a pedophile. He also said Nef came to him to confess, and they approached the police — and Nef has cooperated fully since then. Druyon said all professional reports show Nef could be helped with counseling and treatment.

Druyon said Nef admitted what she had done because it was the right thing to do and was a good candidate for probation for many reasons. Among them is the fact that she has exceptional family support from her husband and extended family. When he asked Nef's family to stand, three rows of people in the courtroom rose to their feet.

Gregory Skordas, the lawyer representing the boy and his family, said they appreciated Nef's confession, and they did not seek a prison sentence. However, Skordas emphatically denied the boy was in any way responsible for what happened. There is no "balance of culpability" when an adult in a position of authority engages in sex with a 13-year-old, he said.

In lengthy remarks before he imposed the sentence, Page said he wished the responsibility to sentence her rested with someone else.

"I haven't slept well in thinking about this case and knowing that from the date the defendant entered her plea, it would be my responsibility to impose sentence," Page said.

While he said it was commendable that Nef came forward and confessed her wrongdoing with the boy, he said there were hundreds if not thousands of victims besides this particular boy who have been hurt by her actions.

"The greater victim in this might be our society as a whole," Page said. "This undermines our faith, beliefs and confidence in institutions that create the foundation of freedoms by which we live — and that is our schools."

"In our society, we esteem our teachers to be among the most honorable people, although sometimes we wouldn't think that by the way we try to pay them and other things. We entrust them with the most important commodity we have in our society and that is our children," Page said.

Page said he had no doubt Nef was a good teacher and was genuinely repentant for what she has done, but the judge sensed Nef also was motivated by the "a concern this was going to come out anyway" once Nef got word about an alleged sexual relationship between another teacher and the same boy.

The other teacher involved with the same boy, Valynne Bowers, 40, is charged with rape and forcible sodomy --- first-degree felonies --- in connection with sexual activity with the boy when he was 14. Plea negotiations for Bowers have fallen through and a preliminary hearing has been set for Aug. 28 before 2nd District Judge Michael Allphin.

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Linda Nef Takes Plea Deal

Linda Nef, the 46-year-old school teacher, who admitted to having sex with a 13-year-old boy, a student in her class, may avoid doing any jail time. Nef and another teacher, Valynne Bowers, 40, were both accused of having sex with the same boy at Bountiful Junior High School.

Nef was originally charged with two first-degree felonies: 1) Rape of a child and 2) Sodomy on a child, which carry mandatory prison terms of 25 years to life.

On Tuesday (6/16/09) Linda Nef went before 2nd District Judge Rodney Page and pleaded guilty to first-degree felony attempted aggravated abuse of a child. The plea gives the judge the option of imposing either probation or a prison term of three years to life. The judge ordered a pre-sentencing report for Nef before she is sentenced July 21.

The plea deal was worked out between the defense and the prosecution along with the victim and his family. Davis County Attorney Richard Larsen said the victim and his family wanted the possibility of probation left open for Nef.

"The victim and his family are very much in favor of resolving [the case] this way," Larsen told the judge.

Sean Druyon, Linda Nef's lawyer, said Nef had already undergone a psycho-sexual evaluation that found she was not a pedophile and not a danger to re-offend.

The second teacher involved in the sex scandal, Valynne Bowers, may also make a plea deal with Davis County prosecutors. Defense attorney Rich Gallegos asked for more time for them to work on a plea bargain. This occurred before Linda Nef cut a deal with prosecutors.

"I'm hopeful that we can work out a deal where she can get some type of probation sentence," Gallegos said. "Likely associated with that is jail time."

Valynne Bowers is charged with first-degree felony rape and forcible sodomy. Her case is considered less serious than that of Linda Nef because her relationship with the victim began when he was 14 years old. Nef began her relationship when the victim was only 13 years old. Bowers is due back in court on June 29 for a potential resolution in the case.

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Rapist Teachers Worried about Child Victim

Two teachers - Linda Richins Nef, 46, and Valynne Asay Bowers, 39 - at Bountiful Jr High School in Utah face first-degree felony charges of rape and sodomy on a child. They are both accused of having sex with a student of the same school, beginning when he was 13 years old. Both teachers have hired lawyers and both are expected to undergo psychological evaluations.

It was Linda Nef who came forward - after learning of Bowers involvement with the youth - to report her behavior to the police. According to her lawyer, Sean Druyon, Nef is sorry for what she's done. Druyon is also recommending that the boy, who has emotional problems, receive counseling.

"She wants to come clean. That's paramount," he said. "But she's also concerned about the boy and his safety. We expect that he's going to need therapy. He's going to need counseling for this and other issues in his life. She wants to take responsibility and pay whatever the court finds appropriate. She's embarrassed her family, her children; she's embarrassed her school, and she feels terrible."

Nef began her relationship with the boy in Nov. 2007 and it continued through July 2008 (earlier reports said Dec. 2008). Her lawyer said Nef had wanted to come forward much sooner but was reluctant to do so because the boy had threatened to harm himself. "When she came in to see me, she wasn't sure if she could protect the child and confess," Sean Druyon said.

According Nef, the relationship with the boy started after he had left her class. "Nothing inappropriate happened" while he was her student. After leaving her class the boy continued to seek her out and she began helping him with some "emotional issues" he was going through. There were after-hours phone calls, visits between classes, meetings after hours and text messages. It grew erotic and led to sex.

"Her role went from former schoolteacher trying to help him, and one thing led to another"

Nef says she wanted to end the relationship sooner but was concerned about the boy's emotional state. It wasn't until after the relationship was finally over that Nef learned about the other teacher, Valynne Bowers. That was when she decided to contact her lawyer and go to the police.

Valynne Bowers' attorney, Rich Gallegos, said he will ask for a psycho-sexual evaluation for his client but said she was not a predator.

"I think there's some psychological issues," he said. "The kid is clearly a victim, but I think these ladies were somewhat vulnerable. When I talked to her, she had a lot of remorse and felt for the victim in the case," he said. "Realizing that she's the adult and she's taking responsibility for her actions, but all of her concerns are for the kid."

The boy is still with his parents but state child welfare workers are also involved with the case.

"We want to get all the information," said Sean Druyon. "When you look at this at first blush, here's a 40-something-year-old woman, here's a 13-year-old, almost 14-year-old boy, 'What was she thinking? She must be a pedophile.' That's not always the case."

In an e-mail sent to parents, the school said it was "a very difficult situation that we are working as a faculty, staff and student body to get through." Counselors were made available to students to help them get through the shock of the scandal.

"We are in the healing process and hope to learn and improve from those mistakes that were made," the e-mail said, expressing thanks for phone calls of support and sending out a plea for questions and concerns to administrators.

Nevertheless, the Davis School District has no plans to change its policies and ban text messaging between teachers and students. But Carol Lear at the State Office of Education has said maybe these policies should be looked at again.

"There is something more intimate about texting than there is about phone calls and certainly than e-mail," she said. "It likely is not appropriate for teachers and students to text each other, especially on a regular basis," she added.

Authorities say other cases of teacher misconduct may have started with personal phone calls, texts and e-mails.

"These younger people that I'm talking to who are student teaching or about to student teach, are saying 'I would never want a student to text me. First of all, I wouldn't want them to know my phone number. I also just think that's something you reserve; it's very casual. You reserve it for a close friend,'" Lear said.

There isn't a rule that specifically bans a teacher from texting a student, but the Utah State Office of Education has rules on teacher/student interactions.

The rules include:

• Teachers shall not make inappropriate contact in any communication-written, verbal, or electronic-with minor, student, or colleague, regardless of age or location.


• Teachers shall not solicit, encourage or consummate an inappropriate relationship, written, verbal, or physical, with a student or minor.


• Teachers shall not participate in sexual, physical, or emotional harassment or any combination toward any public school-age student or colleague, nor knowingly allow harassment toward students or colleagues.


• Teachers shall not accept or give gifts to students that would suggest or further an inappropriate relationship.

Boy Has Sex With 2 Teachers

Two teachers at Bountiful Jr High School in Utah have been arrested for having sex with the same 13-year-old boy, a student of the same school. The Davis County Attorney's Office filed first-degree felony charges of rape and sodomy on a child against Linda Richins Nef, 46, and Valynne Asay Bowers, 39.

Linda Nef, a Utah Studies teacher and Cheerleading Adviser, and Valynne Bowers, a Math teacher, each confessed to having sex with the student, said Bountiful Police Lt. Randy Pickett. Linda Nef was booked and released from the Davis County Jail while Valynne Bowers was booked into the Davis County Jail and held on $20,000 bail.

“Nothing happened at the school. Everything happened at various places in Bountiful, Woods Cross, Kaysville and Farmington,” Pickett said. “Some were parks. Others were private homes, but I don’t know whose homes.”

Linda Nef has resigned. She had been with the Davis County School District since 2004. She was first hired at Taylor Elementary School as a Physical Education Specialist. She had also been working part-time at Bountiful Junior High since March 2005, where she taught Utah Studies and was a Cheerleading Adviser. Her first court appearance is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. March 27.

Valynne Bowers is on administrative leave as a result of the charges. She has taught in the district since 1996 and was an elementary school teacher for nine years before she transferred to Bountiful Junior High in 2006 where she teaches math. She is scheduled to appear in court at 9 a.m. on March 16.

The boy, now 14-years-old, is in the care of his parents. The Division of Child and Family Services is also involved in the investigation. According to Lt. Randy Pickett, the boy and each teacher began discussing personal problems; that led to text messages, including ones involving sexual matters; then phone sex and then the alleged sexual assaults. The relationship with Linda Nef began in Oct. 2007 and lasted until Dec. 2008. The relationship with Valynne Bowers began in Dec. 2008.


It was Linda Nef who went to the police with her lawyer:

“(Thursday) we did an interview involving (Nef),” Pickett said. “She came in with her attorney and admitted to having sex with a 13-year-old boy who was one of her students. ... She disclosed that Bowers was having sex with the same student.”

The boy was interviewed next, Pickett said.

“So we finished the interview with her and because we needed to check out parts of her story, we did not arrest her then,” Pickett said. “We came back and interviewed the boy, who is now 14, by the way. He admitted to having sex with the two female teachers.”

Investigators were still not done.

“After that, then it was 9 o’clock (Thursday) night. We went to interview Bowers at her home,” Pickett said. “She admitted to having sex with this student. There was nothing we needed to follow up with her, so we arrested her and booked her into jail.”

Deputy Davis County Attorney Richard Larsen said the teachers held a position of special trust over the child, a fact that enhanced the charges. “That is the reason for the relationship of trust and why the acts couldn’t be consensual even though it was with a 14-year-old boy,” Larsen said. However, he said they are taking Nef's cooperation with authorities into account.

"I'm sure everybody involved has a desire to get this resolved as quickly as possible," Larsen said. "But we're not in a position where we can discuss plea negotiations. Our opinion is certainly we appreciate the cooperation and we're fully intending to take that into account."