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Farmington • To the now-18-year-old Layton man, Brianne Altice started as just his teacher at Davis High School. Then she was his friend, someone who listened as he talked about family problems and his struggles in school.

Eventually, he considered the 35-year-old woman to be his girlfriend, he testified during a preliminary hearing on Thursday.

The teen testified Thursday in 2nd District Court that he had a sexual relationship with his former English teacher for about a year, starting in September 2013, when they had intercourse near the water tower in Kaysville.

While on the stand, he said he still cares about the South Weber woman and was "very unhappy" to be testifying.

"It's ridiculous," he said. "She doesn't deserve to be here."

Altice is accused of having sexual relationships with three male students since 2013. She is facing a total of 14 felony charges: five counts of first-degree felony rape, two counts of first-degree felony forcible sodomy, three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse, along with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of dealing harmful material to a minor, all third-degree felonies.

The 18-year-old — who is now the third teen to claim having sex with the former teacher — testified he had sex with Altice once before October 2013, when she was initially arrested for having sex with another student. The 18-year-old said they had sex at least three more times after December 2013, while she was free on bail, he said.

There was concern, he said, "that we would get caught seeing each other. Because I was underage."

Their relationship came to a halt last September, the teen testified, after he was arrested and charged with third-degree felony witness tampering and retaliation against a witness. He admitted under cross-examination that he sent SnapChat messages to another alleged victim about the case. He said he planned to resolve his case with a plea in abeyance, and was testifying on Thursday as part of his case resolution.

After hearing testimony from the teen and several other witnesses, Judge John Morris found there was probable cause for Altice to stand trial on one count of rape, three counts of unlawful sexual activity and the harmful material charge.

He also ordered that the woman be taken into custody and held without bail at the Davis County Jail. Prosecutors had asked for the no-bail hold because most of the crimes testified about Thursday happened when Altice was out on bail in connection with the charges related to the first two alleged victims.

"It is a simple argument," Deputy Davis County Attorney Susan Hunt said. "While the defendant was on pretrial release, this defendant continued to engage in sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old boy … Her willingness to continue to commit felony sexual offenses while on bail causes great concern that this defendant will continue and be a danger to the community."

But Altice's attorney, Edward Brass, argued that his client wasn't a danger and wasn't a flight risk. He said it was improper to ask for the no-bail hold, since a judge allowed her to bail out of jail when a new case was initially filed earlier this month.

"She doesn't present a danger to anyone," Brass said. "That young man is an adult."

Altice will be back in court again on

Thursday for a scheduling hearing.

Along with accusations that Altice had sexual intercourse and oral sex with the teen who testified on Thursday, she is also accused of sending the boy a text message with a photograph of her breasts in June 2014.

Criminal charges were initially filed against Altice in December 2013, after a 16-year-old boy told police he had several sexual encounters with his teacher between January and September of 2013.

In October 2014, another teen testified at a preliminary hearing that he was 17 years old when a relationship took place between April and June of 2013 — a relationship that began with kissing between class periods and eventually led to intercourse, he said.

Altice faces up to life in prison if convicted as charged. She was fired from her teaching job last year.

jmiller@sltrib.com