Gunnison teacher arrested, accused of inappropriate sexual behavior with teen

GUNNISON — A substitute teacher was arrested in Gunnison after police say she engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior with a 17-year-old boy whom she originally met while in his classroom.

Ashlyn Amy Harvey, 34, was booked into the Sanpete County Jail on Tuesday for investigation of five counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a 17-year-old.

Police said Harvey was a substitute teacher at Gunnison Valley High School in December of 2022 and the boy was a student in her classroom.

“As a joke, one of his friends dared him to friend her on social media. This he did, and to his surprise, she accepted the invitation. According to the victim, the two began exchanging messages, memes, texts and eventually phone calls over the next several months,” according to a police booking affidavit.

Last spring, the boy’s parents found out about the correspondence and confronted Harvey.

“They told her they felt her behavior was grossly inappropriate and warned her she could lose her job at the high school as a result. According to them, Ashlyn responded, ‘I’m going to resign anyway,’ but then apologized for messaging their son and said she would cease her communication with him. A short time after this confrontation, Ashlyn did resign her teaching position at the high school,” the affidavit states.

But according to the teen, Harvey did not stop messaging him, “but instead coached him on how to delete his call logs and phone messages so that his parents would not discover their communications. Her messages became more romantic in nature as time progressed, until she convinced the victim to meet her late at night,” police wrote in the arrest report.

The boy told police he would meet Harvey late at night, sometimes multiple times a week, and she would pick him up in her husband’s car. By July 2023, the boy said there was inappropriate touching between the two, which happened an estimated 10 to 15 times, according to the affidavit. In October, Harvey took the teen to her house where police say more inappropriate contact occurred.

When questioned by police, Harvey admitted to taking long drives with the teen and having him at her house twice, but denied any sexual conduct, according to the affidavit.