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Second student claims sexual relationship with ex-Davis High teacher, more charges filed

Posted at 10:14 PM, Aug 04, 2014
and last updated 2014-08-05 00:50:41-04

DAVIS COUNTY, Utah — Davis County prosecutors say a former Davis High School teacher had sex with, not one, but two students last year.

Now, former English teacher Brianne Altice is facing multiple rape and sodomy charges.

Court documents say the second student was 17 at the time and he confided to a couple classmates that he had sex with Altice.

One of those classmates, who we’re not identifying, talked with FOX 13 Monday night.

“He said, ‘hey let’s tell secrets,’ and I was like, ‘alright.’ And there was another girl too and he told us I slept with Ms. Altice,” she said.

According to court documents, “between April 2013 and the end of June 2013, the Defendant drove to [the alleged victim’s] house and had sex with him after school .. ”

The teen’s classmate confronted the teacher.

“I walked in and said, ‘I have a question. so and so tells me you have been sleeping with him,’ and she started crying to me, saying ‘please don’t say anything’ and then a couple days later she told me, yeah it’s true,’” the girl said.

The girl said the 17-year-old boy acted like it was cool.

“He was happy about it. He was telling everyone that, ‘yeah I’m the one who did that,’” the girl stated.

But court documents say, “On October 29th 2013, J.G. disclosed to Richard Firmage, Vice Principal at Davis High School that he had sexual intercourse with the defendant. During this disclosure, [the alleged victim] was emotional and cried. At the time of the interview, [the alleged victim] was the defendant’s teaching assistant.”

Police arrested Altice last fall for allegedly having sex with a different student, a 16-year-old. During a preliminary hearing in February the teen admits he made aggressive advances towards Altice and her lawyer,

Altice’s attorney Ed Brass said she gave into the teen’s persistent advances. But prosecutors argue these new charges debunk the defense’s theory and police agree.

“We think in fact it may have been the other way around based on some of the information we had come across she’s more culpable than what is being stated,” said Lt. Paul Thompson with the Kaysville Police Department.

Prosecutors allege Altice planned the sexual encounters with both students last year, using a cell phone app to disguise her phone number so it wouldn’t be traced.

While police say they’ve known about the second student since last fall, “the second case was a little more in-depth, more witnesses to contact, more follow up to do,” Thompson said.

It took longer for investigators to push for additional charges but now that they’ve been filed, “I’m happy she’s charged because she ruined my life too, like with all this happening. I think she should get charged for it. It’s wrong,” the classmate said.

The girl said she left Davis High School because she was bullied and assaulted after reporting what she had learned to her grandmother who tipped off police.

Brianne Altice now faces four felony rape counts and two forcible sodomy counts. Her trial that was scheduled for September has been cancelled now that new charges have been filed. Prosecutors hope to schedule a preliminary hearing for the second teen on Friday. Attempts to reach Altice’s attorney Monday were unsuccessful.