TEACHER ACCUSED OF HAVING SEX WITH TWO STUDENTS

A former Utah English teacher accused of having sex with two students is facing additional charges after a third alleged victim has come forward. Brianne Altice, 35, a former teaching assistant at Davis High School in Kaysville, was arrested in October 2013 on suspicion of having sex with a 16-year-old boy. In August of this year,

a second student came forward accusing Altice of carrying on a physical relationship with him as well. Now, the former educator who lost her job and saw her marriage break apart in the aftermath of the scandal has been charged with a total of 10 felony counts stemming from her alleged encounters with three minors.

The charges against Altice include first-degree rape, first-degree forcible sodomy and second-degree forcible sexual abuse, reported The Salt Lake Tribune. The latest alleged victim to come forward about his illicit relationship with the former teacher told investigators he had sexual encounters with Altice between August and September 2013.

Miss Altice is due back in court January 12 for a preliminary hearing to hear testimony from the third teenager.

Altice’s attorney, Edward Brass, has said in court his client denies any romantic involvement with the three students.

‘It is her defense that they did not happen at all,’ Brass wrote in a motion. ‘That she never engaged in any inappropriate contact with either of her students ...’  Prosecutors said the teacher acknowledged to investigators that she had engaged in sex with the 16-year-old boy on two occasions. The teen was allegedly able to accurately describe the layout of Altice's home to detectives as well as tattoos on her body. 

But Brass has asked the judge to not allow those statements at her trial, arguing that she was intimidated by the eight to 10 male officers who came to her home last October to interview her about the allegations.   

Brass argued that the officers would not let her care for children, call an attorney or use the restroom for nearly four hours as they questioned her.

'Her statements were coerced and involuntary and were taken in violation of her so-called Miranda rights,' Brass wrote in court papers. 

'The evidence she provided was the product of that tainted statement.'

In September, one of the teenage boys, now 18, offered graphic details during his testimony about how he went from being Altice's student to allegedly having sex with her in his Farmington home.

The teen testified that he was 17 years old when he became involved with Altice between April and June of last year, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. 

He said it began with kissing between class periods and eventually graduated to sexual intercourse.

When asked to describe his relationship with Brianne Altice, the teenage boy said she was his 'teacher with benefits.'

Altice has pleaded not guilty to all counts. Her attorney Ed Brass argued she did not use her position as a teacher to persuade the teen into having a sexual relationship. He said she succumbed to the student's frequent flirting.

'She repeatedly refused and declined his advances until he ultimately broke down her resistance,' Brass claimed, according to the Tribune. 

Under Utah law, a victim cannot consent to sex if the other person is in a position of special trust.

Altice was fired from Davis High School in February, and her husband filed for divorce that was finalized in December. She remains free on $10,000 bail.