Former Pleasant Grove teacher pleads guilty to sexual abuse

A Pleasant Grove teacher accused of sexually abusing two 16-year-old girls pleaded guilty to reduced charges Tuesday.

Broch Clyde DeGraff, 27, was a kindergarten teacher and soccer coach at Liahona Preparatory Academy when police allege he had sexual encounters with two students.

DeGraff was charged in September in 4th District Court with one count of first-degree felony forcible sodomy and nine counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.

On Tuesday, DeGraff accepted a plea deal and pleaded guilty to six counts of attempted forcible sexual abuse, four of which were third-degree felonies and two were second-degree felonies. Three counts of forcible sexual abuse were dismissed as part of the deal, along with the forcible sodomy charge.

According to the statement in support of his guilty plea, DeGraff admitted to "touching the breast of another" without her consent on six occasions between April to June 2012.

DeGraff is scheduled to be sentenced on April 16 at the Provo courthouse.

On Sept. 19, 2012, officers arrested DeGraff after detectives and the Utah County Attorney's Office came to believe he intended to flee to Mexico if charges were filed against him.

Liahona Preparatory Academy is a private school for students in kindergarten through 12th grade that provides "core academic classes integrated with a Latter-day Saint gospel base," according to its website.

DeGraff is the son of the school's founders, Brent and Kolleen deGraff, according to the school's spokeswoman, Ganel-lyn Condie.

Condie said DeGraff was fired prior to an Aug. 10 parent meeting at the school.

jmiller@sltrib.com

Twitter: @jm_miller