Los Banos teacher pleads not guilty to sex-crimes charges

A Los Banos teacher and his girlfriend pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to felony charges in connection with allegations of a sexual relationship with at least one teenage student, according to Merced County Superior Court records.

Gary A. Bettencourt, 40, has been charged with 13 felonies, including unlawful sexual intercourse, oral copulation with a minor, and lewd acts upon a child, prosecutors confirmed.

His girlfriend and co-defendant, 22-year-old Devyn M. Egan, also has been charged with six felony counts involving one alleged victim, including unlawful sexual intercourse and oral copulation with a minor, court records show.

Phone calls to the attorneys representing the two defendants were not returned Wednesday.

Bettencourt and Egan have been accused of having sex with one of Bettencourt’s students, a 17-year-old girl, multiple times from April through June of last year, according to the court records.

Bettencourt also has been charged with having sexual relationships with at least two other underage victims. He is charged with committing lewd acts on a 15-year-old girl in late 2003 and early 2004 and oral copulation with another girl who was under 18 in late 2006, according to court records.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty on Wednesday before Judge Harry Jacobs. The judge ordered the two defendants to return to court March 23, according to court records.

If convicted, the Pacheco High School English teacher faces up to nine years and four months in state prison and would register as a sex offender for life, according to the Merced County District Attorney’s Office.

Bettencourt and Egan were arrested Feb. 3 at his Turlock home. Bettencourt posted bail the following day and was released from the Merced County jail, according to booking records.

She faces up to six years in state prison and also would be required to register as a sex offender if convicted, prosecutors said.

Egan remained in custody Wednesday at the John Latorraca Correctional Center, according to records.

Bettencourt has been placed on administrative leave from the district and Egan, a substitute teacher in Stanislaus County, has been inactivated from those duties, authorities have said.

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 5:23 PM with the headline "Los Banos teacher pleads not guilty to sex-crimes charges."