Farmington » A Bountiful Junior High math teacher accused of having sex with a 14-year-old former student was ordered to stand trial Friday following testimony by her alleged victim, who said they had sex nearly every Friday night during January and February.

The boy - who agreed he initiated all contact with the teacher - would come to Bower's home, give her a 30-minute guitar lesson and then they would have sex, according to testimony.

Prosecutors also introduced a written statement by 40-year-old Valynne Bowers in which she said she "tried to be a strong shoulder he could lean on."

Bowers lamented, however, "I began to lean on him. I didn't realize how lonely and depressed I was . . . "

She added: "I had no right to treat him as an adult. I'm sorry for all the damage I caused."

The defense, noting that no sexual conduct occurred at school, and that Bowers was not the boy's teacher at the time of the alleged crimes, argued there was no teacher/student relationship.

That relationship, which carries an accompanying position of special trust, is what elevated the charges against Bowers - five counts of rape and and three counts of forcible sodomy - to first-degree felonies, which are punishable by up to life in prison.

An ordinary adult with no special authority over the boy would have been charged with lesser counts of third-degree felony unlawful with a minor and class B misdemeanor sodomy, attorneys agreed.

Defense attorney Rich Gallegos argued that teachers are ordinary citizens when the school bell rings at the end of the day.

But Deputy Davis County Attorney Richard Larsen said Bowers herself acknowledged there were special aspects to the relationship.

Bowers wrote in her statement that the boy came to her because she was "a trusted adult." She also wrote: "I violated so much trust."

According to testimony from police and the boy, the boy initiated contact with Bowers in December 2008 by showing up at her after-school math study sessions.

He got her cell phone number by using her phone to send himself a message, then began texting and talking to her about his troubled past - including being sexually molested as a younger child - and other personal problems.

Later, the communications became joking and teasing, then sexual.

They first had phone sex, according to testimony. Then, on Jan. 2, they had sexual intercourse. The boy said they had sex twice that first time; Bowers said it was three times.

A week or two later, after the boy began giving Bowers guitar lessons at her home, where they had sex every Friday night until Feb. 27, according to testimony.

Bowers told police she tried to end the relationship, but the boy threatened to harm himself.

The relationship finally ended in early March when Linda Nef, 46, another Bountiful Junior High teacher who had a sexual relationship with the same boy when he was 13 years old, went to police and told them about herself and Bowers.

Nef, who taught Utah social studies and was a cheerleading advisor, was sentenced last month to prison for a term of three years to life.

Nef had pleaded guilty to one count of attempted aggravated sexual abuse of a child, admitting she had a sexual relationship with the boy from Jan. 1, 2008, through Feb. 14, 2008.

Further dates in the Bowers case are pending an assignment to a 2nd District Court judge.

shunt@sltrib.com