PROVO — Utah County prosecutors investigating alleged child sex abuse by an elementary school teacher nearly 20 years ago are worried there could be victims in other states where the educator worked after leaving Utah.
"Based on the allegations made by the victim that we're working with, our great concern is that there might be additional victims," said Utah County Deputy Attorney Dave Sturgill.
Ben C. Newby, 54, a former Lehi elementary school teacher, was arrested and booked Tuesday into the Otero County Jail in La Junta, Colo., for investigation of sex crimes that are alleged to have happened in 1982-83. Newby bailed out of jail Wednesday on a $10,000 cash/bond bail.
The former Lehi teacher — who also has taught in Kansas, Arizona and Colorado — also has been charged in 4th District Court with five counts of forcible sex abuse, which in 1982 was a third-degree felony.
Newby is accused of developing a relationship with a young boy in this third-grade class at Meadow Elementary in Lehi. The relationship eventually led to sexual activity during extended one-on-one time, according to a police affidavit filed in Provo's 4th District Court.
Newby is on paid administrative leave from the La Junta Intermediate School where he has been teaching music to third- through fifth-grade students since August 2005. No complaints have been filed against him since he was hired to work in the district, according to school officials.
"If there had been anything on anybody's record that would indicate they'd gone through a court system, yeah, we would know about that," said La Junta Superintendant Jim Sullivan. "There was nothing."
The alleged victim, now an adult, recently decided to confront Newby and contacted Alpine School District to find a way to contact him. The victim was mistakenly informed that Newby had died, according to the police document.
A search revealed Newby was living in Kansas, and the alleged victim went to Lehi police in November 2005 to report the alleged abuse.
Jack Reid, then-principal of Meadow Elementary School, said Thursday he knows why Newby left the Utah County school district in 1985 but declined to speak more about the matter. Reid has retired from the school district.
According to the police report, Newby asked the boy to stay after school to help with projects. Newby also got permission from the boy's mother, who had recently been widowed, to teach him piano lessons and take him on outings, according to the document.
While on these outings, according to the court documents, Newby kissed the young boy, telling him that it was "one way people show love and affection for each other."
Police documents say the alleged victim told them Newby kissed and fondled him almost every day in the classroom after school.
Newby also attempted to develop a relationship with the boy's mother, even asking her to marry him. The woman declined but allowed Newby to continue his friendship with her son, largely because the boy had just lost his father, according to the court document.
Although the alleged abuse happened nearly two decades ago, prosecutor Sturgill was still able to file charges because Newby left the state soon after the abuse. The statute of limitations didn't expire in this case because Newby left the state.
Alpine School District has a policy that governs how the district handles teachers accused of misconduct with students. John R. Spencer, Alpine's administrator of human resources, said the district places the employee on unpaid leave when alleged misconduct is being investigated.
If the employee is exonerated, the employee can receive back pay.
E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com