A Maricopa County Superior Court judge postponed the trial of a former Buckeye teacher and coach accused of having sex with an underage student because a key witness is being investigated.
Defense attorney Dakota Johnson submitted the motion to delay former Odyssey Institute for Advanced and International Studies High School teacher Alyssa Todd’s trial. Court documents outline ambiguous reasoning.
“The parties have had a settlement. After settlement, the State notified Defense of an ongoing investigation into a key witness’s work,” Johnson wrote in his motion.
Todd, 24, was indicted early last year on six counts of sexual misconduct with a 15-year-old minor and one count of aggravated luring of a minor.
Johnson told the court today that he expects to have witness findings by next week. This is Johnson’s second consecutive motion to delay (30 days) for the key witness findings.
Todd, who was afforded bond, did not attend her pretrial conference hearing today.
“No one wants to come and see me,” Judge Mark H. Brain quipped.
The witness investigation comes after a former Buckeye teacher's aide, Diana Pirvu, was spared prison in a similar sexual misconduct case involving a 13-year-old. Pirvu was afforded a plea deal because of police errors, according to a prosecuting attorney. Nichole Northrup was the lead attorney in the case, according to Pirvu’s case file. 
“Lifetime probation is not an easy thing to do, and balancing the mistakes in the police investigation in this case is how the state came up with the plea offer,” she said during an April sentencing.
Pirvu was Mirandized and admitted to having sex with the victim two to three times, according to the probable cause statement.
Todd’s case lists two Buckeye police officers as witnesses, according to the case docket.
Buckeye police denied that their officers’ procedures were being investigated in Todd’s case.
New and old Todd court case details
Todd’s case was initiated after her husband called Buckeye police after finding evidence that Todd and a 15-year-old boy were corresponding and were in a sexual relationship.
The husband, who was also an Odyssey employee, reportedly found handwritten notes in a bedroom dresser that were apparently “sexual in nature.” He also allegedly found messages on Todd’s laptop that outlined a sexual relationship.
Todd gave detectives a handwritten note that alleges she was swayed into the relationship after the teen kissed her, according to recent court documents.
“Everything started when she was taking the victim to get new track spikes, and he kissed her. After that, defendant stated they tried to find times to be alone. This included lying about where they were going. They would sit in her care and sneak into her husband’s office at the school to kiss each other,” court documents claim.
The inappropriate relationship eventually transitioned from watching movies alone in Todd’s car to sexting with lude photos, leading to the desire for sex, according to court documents.
“According to the defendant, the victim stated he wanted to have sex with her. She then bought condoms, and they planned to leave the school and drive somewhere to have sex. When they did this, the defendant made the victim leave his phone at school so no one could see his location,” court documents claim.
According to court documents, Todd allegedly used her position as a coach to sneak him out under the guise of “practice.”
Investigators later found a used condom in Todd's car with their DNA. Parties in the suit contend that only grinding occurred, according to investigator narratives.
Unaccounted Odyssey
Another Buckeye Odyssey teacher who was convicted of having a relationship with a student is facing a civil suit that similarly outlines a teacher sneaking out with a minor victim. 
The recently amended civil complaint filed in December comes after Jessica Kramer, the former Buckeye-based Odyssey teacher, was sentenced to three years in prison, according to state documents. Kramer was arrested Sept. 11, 2023, according to the Buckeye Police Department.
According to the civil complaint, an Odyssey employee contacted the Arizona Department of Child Safety in October 2022 to allege Kramer repeatedly signed the victim “out of his yoga class and [had] him spend the class period with her in her classroom.”
Documents also allege Kramer was sleeping in the same bed and cuddling with the victim. Additionally, it is alleged that the victim drove “her home while she was intoxicated and he only had a driving permit,” according to the complaint.
The Odyssey brand of schools is also similarly listed as a defendant. The victim’s parents allege the school is also negligent in the suit.
Michael McDaniel can be reached at [email protected]. We invite our readers to submit their civil comments or opinions on this or any issue. Email [email protected].
