by Zara Mustapha

A 34-year-old high school teacher in Utah,  Brianne Altice accused of having sex with a 16-year-old boy claims she is the victim because the boy ‘wore down her defenses.’

Altice’s lawyers say the boy admitted he set out to have sex with her and it was therefore legally consensual, although it is illegal in Utah for a teacher or anyone in a position of power to have sex with a person under 18.

The lawyer says the teacher ‘ repeatedly refused and declined his advances until he ultimately broke down her resistance,’ but the state failed to establish probable cause to believe that the intercourse that occurred was without consent.’

Daily Mail reports:

However, Judge John R. Morris threw out the motion – saying that there was probably cause the try Altice. He set a September trial date.

The statuesque blonde former English teacher at Davis High School in heavily Mormon Kaysville, Utah, sobbed as she left court on Tuesday with her family.

The 16-year-old boy told investigators in last November that he had had sex with Altice on three occasions in 2013 and testified to that fact at a preliminary hearing in February.

According to the Standard-Examiner the teen said in the preliminary hearing that he was upset because his family had moved to Utah from another state.

He said he was having problems and home and doing drugs and that he would skip class to hang out with Altice.

  

Fighting it: Altice pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of raping the 16-year-old. But the boy told police they had sex multiple times in 2013 before her October arrest and that their first sexual encounter was in a church parking lot

 

  

Poised: The 34-year-old Utah woman no longer teaches at the school. Her husband filed for divorce in November shortly after her arrest

Soon a sexual relationship began after an initial encounter in a church parking lot, he said.

The teen was allegedly able to accurately describe the layout of Altice’s home to detectives as well as tattoos on her body.

Altice’s husband filed for divorce shortly after his wife’s arrest. It was finalized in December.

‘The defendant occupied a position of special trust in relation’ to the juvenile, prosecutors wrote. 

Altice was originally arrested in October. Altice was believed to have had sex with a 16-year-old on many occasions, including at her South Weber home and at a park in addition to the church parking lot, a Davis County Jail report states.

Police have said there may be other potential victims.

Altice was only hired by the high school last August, but had previously worked for other schools in the district since 2004.

‘Anytime a story surfaces like this … I think it all causes us concern because these are members of the community that are held to a higher standard,’ district spokesman Chris Williams told Deseret News.

Altice is the fourth Utah teacher currently facing charges of sexually abusing children.

Mug shot: Altice allegedly had sex with the 16-year-old numerous times at her home and at a park and a church parking lot

 

Arrest: Brianne Altice, 34, a teacher from Kaysville, Utah, has been charged with three counts of rape