This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A former Ogden School District teacher has admitted to sexually abusing a female student.
Justin James Davenport, 35, was charged last year in 2nd District Court with two counts of first-degree felony rape, four charges of first-degree felony sodomy and one count of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse.
Davenport this week pleaded guilty to the forcible sexual abuse charge and all other counts were dismissed as part of a plea deal.
The crime is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, but prosecutors have agreed to recommend one year in jail as part of a 36-month probation.
According to charging documents, Davenport had sexual contact with one of his female students at Highland Junior High School during a relationship that lasted from January 2013 through November 2013.
During a November 2015 preliminary hearing, the now-18-year-old victim testified that the relationship began with a kiss in February 2013, prosecutor Ben Willoughby told The Tribune, with sexual contact beginning a week later. The inappropriate contact took place in the portable classroom where Davenport taught geography, prosecutors said.
Davenport was fired from the school in March 2013, after another teacher found Davenport and the girl hiding behind a filing cabinet, Willoughby said.
That teacher did not see anything sexual in nature, but "the school was aware of the impropriety," and contacted police, Willoughby said.
The victim testified that Davenport "was telling her he loved her and that they were going to get married when she turned 18," Willoughby said.
The teen testified that after Davenport was fired, they continued to have sexual contact in other places in Weber County, including in Davenport's car and at the Ogden River Parkway.
The girl also testified that Davenport would give her a Plan B morning-after pill, Willoughby said, and that he would punch her in the stomach in an attempt to prevent pregnancy.