Brianne Altice rebuffs lawsuit's claims against her and the school district

Courts • It's "rumor and hearsay" that there was a running joke about who she was "sleeping with," Altice claims.

Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune
Brianne Altice listens to the testimony of a teenager who gave details about his sexual relationship when he was 17-years old with Altice, his former Davis High School teacher during a preliminary hearing in Judge John R. Morris' 2nd District Court, Thursday January 15, 2015. According to charging documents, Altice allegedly had sexual contact with the 17-year-old boy between August and September of last year. Brianne Altice, was taken into custody and is headed to trial with 10 felony counts for alleged sexual relationships with three teens: five counts of first-degree felony rape, two counts of first-degree felony forcible sodomy and three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse in connection with allegedly having sex with the three male students.

Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune
Brianne Altice, 35, was taken into custody and ordered to stand trial in 2nd District Court after Judge John R. Morris refused to set bail, Thursday, January 15, 2015. Altice, is facing a total of 14 felony charges for allegedly having sexual relationships with three male students: five counts of first-degree felony rape, two counts of first-degree felony forcible sodomy, three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse, along with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of dealing harmful material to a minor, all third-degree felonies.

Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune
Brianne Altice, 35, was taken into custody and ordered to stand trial in 2nd District Court after Judge John R. Morris refused to set bail, Thursday, January 15, 2015. Altice, is facing a total of 14 felony charges for allegedly having sexual relationships with three male students: five counts of first-degree felony rape, two counts of first-degree felony forcible sodomy, three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse, along with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of dealing harmful material to a minor, all third-degree felonies.

Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune
Brianne Altice, 35, was taken into custody and ordered to stand trial in 2nd District Court after Judge John R. Morris refused to set bail, Thursday, January 15, 2015. Altice, is facing a total of 14 felony charges for allegedly having sexual relationships with three male students: five counts of first-degree felony rape, two counts of first-degree felony forcible sodomy, three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse, along with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of dealing harmful material to a minor, all third-degree felonies.

Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune
Brianne Altice, 35, was taken into custody and ordered to stand trial in 2nd District Court after Judge John R. Morris refused to set bail on Thursday. Altice is facing a total of 14 felony charges for allegedly having sexual relationships with three male students: five counts of first-degree felony rape, two counts of first-degree felony forcible sodomy, three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse, along with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of dealing harmful material to a minor, all third-degree felonies.

Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune
Brianne Altice, 35, was taken into custody and ordered to stand trial in 2nd District Court after Judge John R. Morris refused to set bail, Thursday, January 15, 2015. Altice, is facing a total of 14 felony charges for allegedly having sexual relationships with three male students: five counts of first-degree felony rape, two counts of first-degree felony forcible sodomy, three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse, along with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of dealing harmful material to a minor, all third-degree felonies.

Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune
Brianne Altice, 35, was taken into custody and ordered to stand trial in 2nd District Court after Judge John R. Morris refused to set bail, Thursday, January 15, 2015. Altice, is facing a total of 14 felony charges for allegedly having sexual relationships with three male students: five counts of first-degree felony rape, two counts of first-degree felony forcible sodomy, three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse, along with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of dealing harmful material to a minor, all third-degree felonies.

Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune
Brianne Altice, 35, was taken into custody and ordered to stand trial in 2nd District Court after Judge John R. Morris refused to set bail, Thursday, January 15, 2015. Altice, is facing a total of 14 felony charges for allegedly having sexual relationships with three male students: five counts of first-degree felony rape, two counts of first-degree felony forcible sodomy, three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse, along with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of dealing harmful material to a minor, all third-degree felonies.

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Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Brianne Altice listens to the testimony of a teenager who gave details about his sexual relationship when he was 17-years old with Altice, his former Davis High School teacher during a preliminary hearing in Judge John R. Morris' 2nd District Court, Thursday January 15, 2015. According to charging documents, Altice allegedly had sexual contact with the 17-year-old boy between August and September of last year. Brianne Altice, was taken into custody and is headed to trial with 10 felony counts for alleged sexual relationships with three teens: five counts of first-degree felony rape, two counts of first-degree felony forcible sodomy and three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse in connection with allegedly having sex with the three male students. Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Brianne Altice, 35, was taken into custody and ordered to stand trial in 2nd District Court after Judge John R. Morris refused to set bail, Thursday, January 15, 2015. Altice, is facing a total of 14 felony charges for allegedly having sexual relationships with three male students: five counts of first-degree felony rape, two counts of first-degree felony forcible sodomy, three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse, along with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of dealing harmful material to a minor, all third-degree felonies. Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Brianne Altice, 35, was taken into custody and ordered to stand trial in 2nd District Court after Judge John R. Morris refused to set bail, Thursday, January 15, 2015. Altice, is facing a total of 14 felony charges for allegedly having sexual relationships with three male students: five counts of first-degree felony rape, two counts of first-degree felony forcible sodomy, three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse, along with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of dealing harmful material to a minor, all third-degree felonies. Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Brianne Altice, 35, was taken into custody and ordered to stand trial in 2nd District Court after Judge John R. Morris refused to set bail, Thursday, January 15, 2015. Altice, is facing a total of 14 felony charges for allegedly having sexual relationships with three male students: five counts of first-degree felony rape, two counts of first-degree felony forcible sodomy, three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse, along with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of dealing harmful material to a minor, all third-degree felonies. Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Brianne Altice, 35, was taken into custody and ordered to stand trial in 2nd District Court after Judge John R. Morris refused to set bail on Thursday. Altice is facing a total of 14 felony charges for allegedly having sexual relationships with three male students: five counts of first-degree felony rape, two counts of first-degree felony forcible sodomy, three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse, along with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of dealing harmful material to a minor, all third-degree felonies. Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Brianne Altice, 35, was taken into custody and ordered to stand trial in 2nd District Court after Judge John R. Morris refused to set bail, Thursday, January 15, 2015. Altice, is facing a total of 14 felony charges for allegedly having sexual relationships with three male students: five counts of first-degree felony rape, two counts of first-degree felony forcible sodomy, three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse, along with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of dealing harmful material to a minor, all third-degree felonies. Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Brianne Altice, 35, was taken into custody and ordered to stand trial in 2nd District Court after Judge John R. Morris refused to set bail, Thursday, January 15, 2015. Altice, is facing a total of 14 felony charges for allegedly having sexual relationships with three male students: five counts of first-degree felony rape, two counts of first-degree felony forcible sodomy, three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse, along with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of dealing harmful material to a minor, all third-degree felonies. Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Brianne Altice, 35, was taken into custody and ordered to stand trial in 2nd District Court after Judge John R. Morris refused to set bail, Thursday, January 15, 2015. Altice, is facing a total of 14 felony charges for allegedly having sexual relationships with three male students: five counts of first-degree felony rape, two counts of first-degree felony forcible sodomy, three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse, along with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of dealing harmful material to a minor, all third-degree felonies.

By Michael McFall The Salt Lake Tribune

· June 3, 2015 4:37 pm

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Brianne Altice never heard an alleged running joke among Davis High students: "Who is Ms. Altice sleeping with now?"

The former Davis High English teacher countered several such claims that were leveled against her and the school district in a lawsuit.

The civil lawsuit, one of two filed against Altice in 2nd District Court, alleges that students texted her and made sexual comments to her. Eventually, she began seeing them after school and having sex with them, according to the complaint.

In her criminal case, Altice, 35, pleaded guilty in April to three counts of forcible sexual abuse, admitting she touched the genitals of three students from January to September 2013.

Altice is scheduled to be sentenced July 9. She faces a potential one-to-15-year prison term for each of the three counts.

The civil lawsuit claims that other students and staff knew about Altice's relationship with the three students.

"Other than friendship this is untrue to my knowledge," Altice responded in a handwritten letter Tuesday, acting as her own attorney.

The suit also claims that Altice allowed students to be in her classroom even though they were supposed to be in other classes. The students would even skip class to spend the entire day in her room, according to the suit.

Altice responded that if the students came to her classroom, they would have been asked to leave. But she added that if students didn't have another class, they would at times come and do homework.

When it came to the claim that the school administration knew that she was "engaged in inappropriate behavior" with students, and "did nothing to adequately protect them," Altice dismissed this as "hearsay and opinion."

She expressed the same about her alleged actions of "[manifesting] a knowing and reckless indifference toward, and a disregard of, the rights of [the student], his parents and other victims."

A trial date for the lawsuit has yet to be scheduled.

Altice, who has been in custody at the Davis County jail, has asked that if she serves more time behind bars in the criminal case, that it be in jail, not prison.

mmcfall@sltrib.com

Twitter: @MikeyPanda