This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
The parents of one of the victims of former school teacher Brianne Altice has moved to withdraw their civil lawsuit against Altice and the Davis School District.
According to court records, attorneys for one of three teen boys who had sexual contact with Altice filed paperwork on Wednesday asking that their personal injury lawsuit against Altice and the school district be dismissed without prejudice — meaning the case could be refiled at a later date.
Assistant Utah Attorney General Joel Frerre said Wednesday that the family's attorneys did not articulate their reasons for dropping the case, but that a motion to dismiss filed by his office on grounds of immunity likely contributed to their decision.
The attorney general's office had asked a judge weeks earlier to dismiss the case, arguing in court papers that the district's status as a governmental entity makes it immune to claims based on any injury or harm the teen suffered from Altice's actions.
"However traumatic this experience may have been for [the teen], the district is not liable for its impact," state attorneys wrote in court papers filed in Farmington's 2nd District Court.
Mark Carlson, the boy's family's attorney said Wednesday, "We won't be making any comments at this time as it remains undetermined on whether the [Utah Governmental Immunity Act] grants immunity in this case. Once the matter is adjudicated, we will gladly comment."
The victim was 16 at the time the abuse occurred and his name appears in court documents. However, The Salt Lake Tribune does not typically identify victims of sexual abuse.
Court papers filed on April 8 by attorneys for the boy and his parents alleged the district and Davis High School were negligent in the hiring and retention of Altice, and that school officials failed to adequately supervise her.
They also claim the boy and his parents suffered psychological injury from the abuse, including emotional and mental anguish.
This was the second lawsuit filed against the school district for Altice's inappropriate relationships with students. The first lawsuit, filed in March by another teen boy and his parents, was still pending in 2nd District Court as of Wednesday afternoon.
Altice, 35, pleaded guilty in April to three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse, admitting that she had sexual contact with three male students.
She has been held in the Davis County jail, and is expected to be sentenced on July 9.
Documents filed in support of her plea agreement with Davis County prosecutors say Altice touched the genitals of three individuals from January to September of 2013.
Each of the three teen boys testified at separate preliminary hearings that they had sexual intercourse with the teacher.