Prosecutors have asked the Utah Court of Appeals to overturn a Farmington judge’s suppression of evidence against a former gymnastics coach accused of sexually abusing two teenage students.

The court has agreed to consider the matter, which involves charges against Kelly C. Brown, 33, of North Ogden, regarding the alleged abuse of two 15-year-old girls, one in 2016 and another in 2018.

Second District Judge David J. Williams in Farmington ruled in November that a Layton police detective unconstitutionally obtained incriminating evidence against Brown during an interview at the time of his arrest.

But the Utah Attorney General’s Office, representing Davis County, in December asked for a Court of Appeals review, arguing that Williams did not conclude that the detective “overbore the defendant’s will,” a key element to justify the evidence suppression.

Responding to that argument, Brown’s appellate attorney, Freyja Johnson, said Williams properly considered the totality of circumstances. The judge said prosecutors had not demonstrated that Brown’s statements to the detective were constitutionally voluntary.

According to Johnson, Williams “took into account the detective’s extensive use of police trickery, misrepresentations, minimization, and the false friend technique.”

In February, back in Williams’ court, Brown attorney Tara Isaacson filed a motion to sever the case into two trials, each centering on allegations of a single victim.

Prosecutor Benjamin Willoughby of the Davis County Attorney’s Office filed a response asserting, “Evidence from each girl is relevant to show that the defendant had enough opportunity to molest students – even in the gym.” He added that it is relevant to show in a joint trial that Brown’s alleged conduct “was not accidental or a mistake.”

Brown was charged after a former student at a Layton gymnastics studio came forward to accuse him of abusing her in 2018. More charges were added when a second girl at a different gym saw news coverage of Brown’s arrest and she approached authorities as well.

He is accused of first-degree felony object rape; forcible sexual abuse and two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, second-degree felonies; three counts of dealing in materials harmful to a minor, third-degree felonies; and class A misdemeanor sexual abuse of a minor.

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