Barbara Jeanne Anderson, a Kentlake High School math teacher, pleaded not guilty in superior court today to a charge of first-degree sexual misconduct.
The King County Prosecutor’s Office filed the charge, which is a class C felony, against the 37-year-old teacher alleging she had sexual contact with a 17-year-old male student in her class.
According to Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, if convicted Anderson could be facing six months to a year in jail.
The next court date for Anderson is April 14.
According to the prosecutor’s probable cause document, the relationship was discovered after the boy’s mother found hundreds of text messages between the two in the space of about three weeks.
The school district contacted the King County Sheriff’s Office March 8 and an investigation began, which resulted in Anderson’s arrest March 17. She was released the next day.
The probable cause document describe an ongoing relationship through text messages, a social networking website and eventually sexual contact.
The statute used in this case is written to prohibit teachers (or other school employees) from having sexual intercourse with students who are 16 or 17 years old, when the employee is at least five years older than the student.
The age of consent for a sexual relationship is 16 in Washington state.
According to the school district Anderson is on paid administrative leave.
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