Alarming new details in the sex assault case against a former teacher turned cop in the North Valley

Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Alarming new details in the sex assault case against a former teacher turned cop in the North Valley
Los Banos police officer Dusty Norris is charged with having a sexual relationship with a student.

LOS BANOS, Calif. (KFSN) -- Los Banos police officer Dusty Norris is charged with having a sexual relationship with a student.

Court documents obtained by Action News reveal, according to the victim, a pattern of inappropriate, aggressive sexual advances towards her. Norris' attorney said the report, which claims the crimes happened 10 years ago, doesn't prove anything.

"In fact, there are many things in there where the individual claimed items existed that would corroborate the statements, and it turned out, none of these items existed," said Chris Loethen, defense attorney.

Also in the court documents in the case showed the Los Banos Police Department was first made aware of possible crimes by Norris. After they assigned him to interview the victim in the sexual assault case against Los Banos High School teacher Gary Bettencourt. Instead of interviewing the victim, Norris instead confronted Bettencourt about the allegations. An action fellow officers thought was suspicious and out of character.

Then, a forensic analysis of Bettencourt's phone uncovered a nude photo of Norris, which investigators learned may have been kept to blackmail Norris in the future.

Officers said, it turns out both Bettencourt and Norris had sexual relationships with the same student. In her police interview, the victim admitted she had four separate sexual encounters with Norris. Three while she was a student and he was her teacher, the fourth after he had changed careers and was a Los Banos police officer. She was participating in a ride-along during the last incident.

All four crimes happened while she was 16 and 17-years-old.

The victim told police within a month of her taking Norris' class the two began sending sexually explicit text messages to each other. One time, she said Norris even exposed himself to her during class when other students weren't looking.

Norris' attorney said he plans on pleading not-guilty on Thursday.

He's also facing a misdemeanor for being a mandated reporter and not telling authorities about the sexual child abuse committed by Bettencourt.