[Ksyrup]

Chief believes sex claims

Spring Valley officer backs boy's story at teacher-sex trial

Thursday, October 27, 2005
BY ERINN DESHINSKY

OF THE JOURNAL STAR

PRINCETON - The police chief investigating an alleged sexual relationship between a Hall High School teacher and her 15-year-old student testified Wednesday he believed the boy's claims about the affair, but the defense argued inconsistencies in the boy's testimony prove he is a liar.

Spring Valley Police Chief Doug Bernabei testified in front of Judge Chris H. Ryan Wednesday on the third day of the bench trial of Gina M. Purvis, a former biology teacher at the Spring Valley high school.


Purvis, 29, is charged with four counts of felony criminal sexual assault in Bureau County for allegedly having sexual relations with the student in the spring of 2004.

The boy alleged he had sex with Purvis after the superintendent confronted him in November 2004 about rumors of their relationship heard in school.

Bernabei recounted a telephone "overhear" he documented Nov. 11. Upon Bernabei's instruction, the mother called a telephone number belonging to Gina Purvis and confronted her about the rumors while Bernabei was listening on another line and taking notes. He said the woman on the other line did not know he was listening.

Bernabei said the mother identified the woman as Purvis. The woman told the mother she got too close to the boy and messed up but never meant to hurt him.

He said the woman also admitted she and the boy kissed. He said the woman said, "I was in the storage room, I turned, he was there. I knew it was wrong."

The defense questioned why Bernabei didn't use a wiretap during the mother's phone call and why he didn't instruct her to ask for details about when the events happened.

"I don't believe I had time," Bernabei said, adding he felt valuable evidence might have been lost if he waited for the wiretap. "There are certainly a lot of questions I would have loved to ask within that 30 minutes. I had to deal with what I had."

Bernabei said the woman also said in the phone call she told the boy to lie to his parents and say he was visiting Purvis' niece, when he visited the teacher at her home. The boy, now 17, testified Tuesday the two had sex during these visits - on one occasion, nine times.

Bernabei said the woman also admitted she flirted with the boy and gave him a necklace and some photographs.

"The female voice said she would lose her license and lose her job over this," Bernabei said.

The defense claimed testimony by the boy's cousin Rick Andes was inconsistent with an interview he had earlier. During a taped testimony shown Wednesday, the defense questioned Andes' recollection of when events happened.

Andes, who is currently serving in the Navy, said he saw Purvis kiss his cousin and said she told him the boy was "good in bed." Purvis' former colleague Joseph Sester of Rockford testified Wednesday she would tell him about her sexual problems with her husband and that she wanted a divorce.