This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — Jamie Heiner says she was 15 years old when her teacher and basketball coach, Stephen Niedzwiecki, began sexually abusing her.

“Just little by little, he began to plant little seeds. He would tell me songs to listen to with sexual undertones,” she said.

Now she's helping Utah lawmakers with legislation that would make predators in positions of special trust more accountable.

Davis County prosecutors said a loophole in the current law prevented them from pursuing enhanced charges against Niedzwiecki because Heiner wasn't his student when the abuse happened. HB213 would close that loophole and make it a first degree felony for anyone in a position of special trust to sexually abuse a child.

“I mean, he was my teacher. I never thought he would hurt me,” Heiner said.

Niedzwiecki, 34, Heiner's former teacher and basketball coach at Jefferson Academy, a charter school in Kaysville, pleaded guilty last month to two counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year-old, third-degree felonies.

The prosecution determined that a jury could not reasonably convict Niedzwiecki of being in a position of trust over Heiner and reduced the charges.

Niedzwiecki's attorney challenged whether her client was actually in a position of special trust, saying the relationship took place when Niedzwiecki was no longer Heiner's teacher or coach.

Heiner and her father both lamented the reduced charges and the law that would not find Niedzwiecki in a position of trust. That is when Heiner said she planned to work with state legislators to change the wording of the law regarding people in positions of trust over students.

HB213 is on hold. Lawmakers say they need time to work on the language of that bill.

Protecting children

Trina Taylor with Prevent Child Abuse Utah speaks to families about preventing their children from being victimized.

She said it's important to trust your gut.

"That's the 'uh oh' feeling you get in your gut when you just know something's wrong," she said.

She also suggested watching for a predator who spends too much time with the victim.

Heiner said, "He texted me a lot, like 17,000 texts a month."

"I was never without him. I was either with him in person or he was asking me where I was or what I was doing via text," she added.

Another thing to look for: The predator asks the victim to keep secrets.

Contributing: Whitney Evans

×

Photos

Related Stories