Ex-teacher charged in student sex case

BYRON CENTER, Mich. (WOOD) - A former Byron Center school teacher who also coached girls basketball  has admitted to a sex act with a 14-year-old female student, court records show, and said that if the teen told deputies about more serious sex acts, she "would have no reason not to tell the truth."

Glenn Davis was arraigned Friday on three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct using authority of a teacher with a victim 13 to under 16. His bond was set at $30,000 and he will be back in court on March 13.

The 41-year-old Davis was arrested Thursday, according to Michigan State Police records. Davis is a former math teacher and girls' basketball coach at the school. He was 39 at the time of the alleged assault.

The victim was a 14-year-old 9th-grader and a student of Davis at the time of the incident, which occurred between September 2011 and April 2012, according to authorities. There is no information that the alleged incident occurred in the school, police said.

The alleged victim's father sat in the hallway during Davis' arraignment and called his daughter's old teacher and coach a predator.

"Very smart, very good at what he does to get what he wants to please himself," he said.

The girl told police she and Davis started as friends, then escalated to him driving her to his home from school.

Detectives say Davis confessed to one sex act with the victim and that when asked about the more serious allegations, he said the victim "would have no reason not to tell the truth."

The victim's father says this has hurt his daughter and their family.

"It's totally pulled her out of the loop of a normal 15 year old's life. You've got a phenomenal, gifted child that totally shuts down and that is very hurtful for a father to go through, to watch that, knowing there's nothing he can do," he said.

Superintendent Dan Takens told 24 Hour News 8 Davis resigned after the district put him on paid leave in November 2012 following allegations of "inappropriate conduct" with a student.

Records obtained by Target 8 under the Freedom of Information Act show Davis had been exchanging what the district says was "excessive" text messages with a 14-year-old female student.

The superintendent said the district ordered Davis to stop, but learned the teacher and student later resumed exchanging messages.

Documents show Davis admitted to sending some messages to the student, but denied any relationship, and told the district he had broken off online contact with her.

The girl's father questioned the school district's response.

"It's very unfortunate that the school had to let this go on so long, knowing that there wasn't something right," he said.