Board revokes teaching license after unlawful contact conviction

By Emily Richmond

Friday, Oct. 9, 2009 | 1:47 p.m.

A former Boulder City middle school teacher had his license revoked today by the State Board of Education following his conviction for unlawful contact with a child, a gross misdemeanor.

Brett Storsved, 40, opted to fight publicly for his teaching license, appearing at this morning’s hearing with his wife and several supporters who spoke on his behalf.

Storsved had faced eight felony charges of lewdness, stemming from allegations made by seven female students, ages 11 to 13. The incidents took place during the 2006-07 academic year at Garrett Middle School, where Storsved was teaching science and broadcast journalism.

The students told authorities that Storsved had touched them inappropriately, describing pats on their backsides and pokes to their stomachs, groins and sides.

Storsved entered an Alford plea on the gross misdemeanor and the more serious charges were dropped. He was sentenced to a year’s probation and ordered to have no contact with children under age 16.

An Alford plea is a plea in which a defendant does not admit guilt, but concedes there is likely enough evidence to support a conviction.

Storsved told the board members he had agreed to the plea deal only because he was facing life in prison if convicted of even just one of the felony charges. The risk was too great, Storsved said.

He also disputed the charges made against him, saying he had never touched a child with sexual intent. Storsved also mentioned that at his sentencing hearing, none of the students or their families showed up, which to him suggested they had misgivings.

“Are you saying these children lied?” asked State Board member Christopher Wallace.

Storsved said he wasn’t calling the students liars, but pointed to their relatively young ages and said “what they say can be distorted.”

Cliff Ferry, the board’s vice president, said the hearing wasn’t the place for Storsved to try and refute the allegations made against him.

“We have to go by what has been done by the court already and the standards for revocation,” Ferry said.

As a matter of law, “the licensee is guilty of what he pled guilty to,” said Ed Irvin, the deputy attorney general assigned to advise the Nevada Education Department, which oversees teacher licensing.

If the comments Storsved made today had been presented during his sentencing hearing, “it would have been very problematic,” Irvin said. “The court might not have accepted his plea.”