A former West High School teacher accused of sexually abusing a student in 2017 was found guilty last week of seven felonies.
A 3rd District Court jury specifically convicted Sterrett Oney Neale on Thursday of three first-degree felony counts of object rape, two first-degree felony counts of forcible sodomy and two second-degree felony counts of forcible sexual abuse, the Salt Lake County district attorney’s office announced Monday.
The victim, who was 17 at the time, alleged a “pattern” of abuse that began in March 2017, the district attorney’s office explained in a news release.
Initially, the former creative writing and language arts teacher would “kiss and sexually” abuse the victim in his classroom after school, the news release stated.
In August of that year, Neale began having the student meet him in the parking lot of St. Mark’s Hospital in Millcreek, where prosecutors say he would pick her up and drive her to his home while his wife was not there.
Once home, he would take her to his bedroom where he would sexually abuse her, the release stated. The abuse lasted for over a year.
“Our teachers are meant to protect and educate our children, not abuse them,” Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a statement. “We hope that this jury verdict helps the victim-survivor feel that she has received some justice, though perfect justice would mean this would have never happened to her.”
The Salt Lake City School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the case.
Police began investigating Neale in March 2019. He was arrested in his classroom a month later. The school district immediately placed him on unpaid administrative leave.
Up until his arrest, Neale had been working with the district since 1994.
Neale is being held in Salt Lake County jail as he awaits sentencing, currently set for Jan. 5, court records indicate.