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Silver Summit • A former Summit County middle school teacher who admitted to touching the buttocks of several students was sentenced to jail on Monday.
Rory Bowen, 37, of Oakley, pleaded guilty in June to three charges of class A misdemeanor sexual battery, admitting in court papers that he touched the victims "under circumstances [he] knew or should have known would likely cause affront or alarm to the person touched."
The former math teacher had originally been charged with four counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child — a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison — but the charges were reduced as part of a plea deal.
Despite pleas from Bowen to allow him to serve only probation or a lengthy home confinement sentence, 3rd District Judge Paige Petersen sentenced the defendant on Monday to serve 30 days in jail, followed by two months of home confinement. He also will be on probation for 54 months, the judge ordered, and can not work as a teacher or reapply for his teaching license during that time.
During the Monday sentencing hearing, prosecutor Joy Natale told the judge that the victims' families — none of whom were present in the courtroom for sentencing — wanted Bowen to serve some time in jail. Natale asked that he serve 180 days in jail, calling Bowen's actions "a crime of opportunity," adding that the young girls were vulnerable because they were struggling to understand math.
"Students look up to their teachers as trusted adults," Natale said. "And he took advantage of that trust."
But Bowen's attorney, Kenneth Brown, told the judge that the touching was accidental, and that Bowen would often put his hand on a student's back to bring them in closer while explaining schoolwork.
"The touch was intentional," Brown said. "The problem we had [was] there wasn't any sexual intent. His hand slipped down to the buttocks — we're not denying that."
Brown said his client chose to resolve the case by pleading guilty to the misdemeanors to avoid going to trial accused of multiple first-degree felonies with a mandatory prison sentence attached. He asked the judge for leniency, telling her that Bowen wanted to remain with his wife and three children and continue working at his job with a tech company.
"This man has suffered," Brown said. "This has been hard on him and his family … To think that we need to put him in jail to teach him a lesson is, in my opinion, ludicrous. He's been to hell and back."
When given a chance to address the judge, Bowen tearfully apologized, saying that he felt "terrible about his actions."
"I'm sorry that my actions have reflected poorly on the teaching industry," he said. "I'm sorry that it's caused any suffering to anyone."
Bowen was charged early last year with a single crime, but soon after, three more students came forward with similar accusations.
The first girl, 13, told authorities that Bowen, her seventh-grade math teacher at South Summit Middle School, in Kamas, touched her buttocks over her clothing on multiple occasions from Aug. 27, 2013, to March 17, 2014.
The alleged assault happened in Bowen's classroom when the student asked him for extra help after class, prosecutors have claimed.
The other girls who came forward said Bowen also touched their buttocks over their clothing on one or more occasions during the same time frame, according to charges.