BOUNTIFUL — Former teacher Jeremy Flygare stood tearfully before the family of his victim Friday and told them him that now — more than a year and half since he was arrested for having a sexual relationship with their daughter — he understands more the impact of what he did.
"I made a terrible, terrible error with this student and I hurt her and I hurt her family tremendously," the former Northridge High School drama teacher said. "It's taken me a long time to realize how much damage I caused."
But 2nd District Judge Thomas Kay said he couldn't even begin to understand what caused Flygare to pursue a relationship with a 17-year-old student and then, in the middle of that relationship, to tell the school board that he was working on appropriate boundaries.
"I don't understand that," the judge said. "I really don't."
Kay ordered Flygare to serve two concurrent terms of one to 15 years in prison for two counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony. He also ordered the man to pay $600 in restitution and any costs of additional treatment. The judge made the decision despite calls from Flygare's defense attorney to, instead, impose jail time, which would allow for treatment and work release. Even Adult Probation and Parole didn't recommend prison time.
Kay said he issued the prison sentence because he felt he needed to send a message that this behavior, especially from teachers, will not be tolerated.
"We are in a wonderful place to live," the judge said of Davis County, "but we have seen a terrible problem of sexual crimes that seems to be multiplying. I don't know what to do."
Flygare was originally charged with three counts of first-degree felony rape for having sexual intercourse with the 17-year-old girl, but he eventually pleaded guilty to reduced charges. Prosecutors said the girl told them the pair were intimate 10 to 15 times and even had sex at the school.
Investigators believe the relationship lasted about a month. It was discovered in March 2010 by the girl's parents, who returned home from a trip to find Flygare in their home. Once the girl's parents entered the home, Flygare picked up his jacket and left, saying that he was "sorry" as he went, a police affidavit states.
Flygare had been a teacher at the school since 2007.
The girl's parents said their daughter, whose dreams and passions centered around theater, has had that taken from her.
"My family is destroyed," the girl's mother said. "My daughter's dreams are destroyed. I don't know if she is going to be able to pursue her passion. She is brilliant, but she cannot do theater. It breaks my heart."
The girl's father said the teen cut her parents out of her life the night before the sentencing, after her mother did a KSL interview about the impact of the case on her daughter.
"She texted my wife and said, 'You are out of my life,'" the man said. "Everything (Flygare is) doing now to be better, I'm glad for him, but what he did before he has to be accountable for that. Our price to pay is huge."
A psychologist testified that Flygare is making progress in therapy and is at a moderate to low risk to reoffend. Defense attorney Ken Brown said Flygare has already lost his ability to teach and had to register as a sex offender.
"What has happened in the last while is Jeremy has understood what he's done in a more direct and personal way," Brown said. "This man has changed. There is a crime that must be dealt with, but it must be dealt with fairly."
Prosecutor Cristina Ortega said Flygare had initiated a close relationship with a separate student in 2008 that led to a kiss and, eventually, to Flygare losing his job. She questioned how Flygare couldn't have learned from that, instead pursuing a more serious relationship with this victim, whom he told about his suicidal thoughts and other issues.
"That was a huge burden for him to place on a young woman," Ortega said. "He was an adult and should have known better. … He was her teacher and what he did was wrong."
Flygare apologized profusely to his victim, her family, his own family and friends, his students and those in the education and theater communities in which he was well known.
"I feel like I've disappointed thousands of people," he said. "I wish I could take it back. I wish I could do it differently, but the damage I've caused is now done and I'm not sure how to make amends."
He cried as he spoke, his voice shaking.
But the girl's mother didn't believe any of it.
"I think the defendant is an actor — a good actor," the woman said. "He manipulates people."
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