Former teacher Brianne Altice pleads guilty in sex abuse case

BOUNTIFUL — A former Davis High School teacher admitted Wednesday that she had sex with three of her students.

In a plea deal, Brianne Land Altice, 35, pleaded guilty to three counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony. In exchange for her plea, 11 other felony charges were dropped against the former English teacher.

Altice had been facing four trials and 14 felony charges — including rape, forcible sodomy, forcible sexual abuse, unlawful sexual activity with a minor and dealing in materials harmful to a minor — stemming from sexual relationships with three former Davis High students who were 16 or 17 years old at the time.

Two of those boys and their parents are now suing the Davis County School District, arguing that it did not properly vet Altice before hiring her, which led them to be victimized. The two lawsuits are seeking damages that, together, could total almost $1 million.

The parents of one of those victims shared their relief Wednesday that Altice had pleaded guilty. The parents asked not to have their names published in order to protect their son.

"I'm not sure that I'm happy that from 14 felonies, it's gone down to three, but at least she did admit that she was guilty," said one victim's mother, who is listed as a plaintiff alongside her son in the latest lawsuit.

The mother said she is grateful her son, now 18, will not have to testify at trial.

"I don't think any of us were looking forward to a trial and having to rehash the whole situation again. I know it was hard on all of the kids to have to talk about that," the woman said. "It's difficult, and I'm not sure he could go through that again."

Police say Altice befriended the boys while they were students, eventually progressing to three separate sexual relationships between Nov. 1, 2013, and Aug. 25, 2014, meeting the teens for sex at parks, in cars and at her home while her then-husband was away — they have since divorced. New charges were filed in January after Altice allegedly resumed her relationship with one of the students while she was out on bai.

One of the teens testified last year that the relationship started when he would seek Altice out daily to flirt and compliment her. He would skip other classes to stay in her classroom, and over time the two began talking. They first kissed in Altice's classroom, and eventually began meeting for sex.

The family currently suing the school district said they hope the case will serve to warn other parents while encouraging change. Davis High School, they allege, tried to hide what was happening to their son.

"As the case progressed, we knew that Davis had some information and knew what was going on as far as the boys were concerned and kind of turned a blind eye," the mother said Wednesday. "They never notified us, never notified any of the other parents, and just kind of tried to sweep it under the carpet."

School administrators need to be vigilant of interactions between students and teachers on text messages and social media, which can lead to inappropriate relationships, the woman said. In the case of Altice, the teacher was accused of exchanging explicit messages and photos with the students by cellphone.

Ultimately, the pattern that emerged of Altice befriending male students should have served as a red flag to school administrators, the victim's father said. Going forward, the man hopes Altice will receive counseling.

"It's not about punishment. I think she needs therapy more than punishment," he said.

Further, the parents hope to combat a perceived double standard that surrounds relationships between female teachers and male students.

"I think people don't see how it really affects the kids, the boys," the mother said. "It's not a 'tie the boy down and rape him' sort of abuse. You don't know until you're a parent, really, what it is, and it's more of an emotional abuse."

A search of her son's social media profile, however, shows that he "likes" a Facebook page called "Free Brianne Altice," which glorifies her actions.

The Davis County School District declined to comment Wednesday in light of the pending litigation.

Altice could face up to 15 years in prison for each charge. She will be sentenced May 28. She is currently being held without bail in the Davis County Jail.

I find it very difficult to believe these HS ‘boys’ were really “forced”. Yes, there is something a little whacked with this gal and clearly “HS teacher” was not the best career choice, but I don’t think 14 years in jail is the right answer here. If those ‘boys’ end up scared, it will be because they are having their activities dissected by the shrinks, Mom, Dad and the press. No one wants that.

This is actually a very good example of "anarcho-tyranny".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_T._Francis#Anarcho-tyranny

Sam Francis wrote: What we have in this country today, then, is both anarchy (the failure of the state to enforce the laws) and, at the same time, tyranny – the enforcement of laws by the state for oppressive purposes; the criminalization of the law-abiding and innocent through exorbitant taxation, bureaucratic regulation, the invasion of privacy, and the engineering of social institutions, such as the family and local schools; the imposition of thought control through "sensitivity training" and multiculturalist curricula, "hate crime" laws, gun-control laws that punish or disarm otherwise law-abiding citizens but have no impact on violent criminals who get guns illegally, and a vast labyrinth of other measures. In a word, anarcho-tyranny.

And he also wrote: The laws that are enforced are either those that extend or entrench the power of the state and its allies and internal elites ... or else they are the laws that directly punish those recalcitrant and "pathological" elements in society who insist on behaving according to traditional norms – people who do not like to pay taxes, wear seat belts, or deliver their children to the mind-bending therapists who run the public schools; or the people who own and keep firearms, display or even wear the Confederate flag, put up Christmas trees, spank their children, and quote the Constitution or the Bible – not to mention dissident political figures who actually run for office and try to do something about mass immigration by Third World populations.

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Now, you'll have to bear with me on this. Obviously, the young woman DID commit an abuse of trust, for which there are laws.

HOWEVER: "Altice had been facing four trials and 14 felony charges — including rape, forcible sodomy, forcible sexual abuse, unlawful sexual activity with a minor and dealing in materials harmful to a minor — stemming from sexual relationships with three former Davis High students who were 16 or 17 years old at the time."

This is an example of prosecutorial "charge-larding", where the prosecutor has so many tools that he throws them all against the wall to force the VICTIM (yes, I said VICTIM) to submit to the State's Will.

The VERY SAME prosecutor(s) will stand there and explain to the rest of us peasants why they can't POSSIBLY find any prosecutable charges against abusers like Lois Lerner, Hillary Clinton or John Koskinen.

I know for a fact that Lois Lerner committed a foot-high stack of felonies when she shipped IRS information to other Executive Branch departments. Hillary Clinton and her little email scheme? Same deal.

John Koskinen perjured himself in the face of Congress.

Any prosecutions? Nah, they're much too busy throwing the book at Brianne Altice...

A year in the county hoosegow to remind her of her (former) duty to the education of the youth, and 2 or 3 years probation.

Quit wasting time and taxpayer dollars indulging the prosecutor's & The Jester's System's prurient interests.

I kind of agree with mad puppy that The System is going to end up doing more damage to the young lads than she did.

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