A former Pleasant Grove teacher was sentenced to prison time after allegedly having sex with two 16-year-old students.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the 28-year-old teacher was the soccer coach for the girls. A judge recently gave the former teacher a 20 year prison sentence for abusing the Liahona Preparatory Academy students.
Authorities say that the man used the same “grooming tactics” for each girl, telling them that he loved them and that he would leave his wife to marry them in Mexico.
The man pleaded guilty to multiple counts of forcible sexual abuse and attempted sexual abuse. Three forcible sexual abuse charges and a forcible sodomy charge were dismissed as part of the plea deal.
Reports indicate that the man’s attorney asked the sentencing judge to impose jail time instead of prison time. That recommendation was supported by Adult Probation and Parole after a psycho-sexual evaluation indicated that the teacher was not aroused by children.
It appears that the teacher’s marriage was deteriorating and in response he filled his need for a relationship by projecting adult characteristics on the teens.
Source: Salt Lake Tribune, “Former Utah teacher gets prison for sexually abusing two students,” Jessica Miller, April 16, 2013