Jacqueline Ma, a teacher at Lincoln Acres Elementary School accused of sexual misconduct with a former student, has pleaded not guilty to 15 felony counts, ABC 10 San Diego reports.
The 34-year-old from National City, California, was arrested last Tuesday. National City police say a parent suspected her 13-year-old son was “possibly having an inappropriate relationship with a former teacher,” ABC 10 San Diego reports.
“When she was arrested, she had a photograph of the victim in her wallet, she had jewelry with his initials, and love letters were discovered in her classroom directed at the child,” Drew Hart, Deputy District Attorney for the County of San Diego, told CBS 8.
The relationship between Ma and the child allegedly began in December when the child was 12-years-old. Authorities say she used a special messaging app to contact him. Eventually, the messages became sexual in nature, ABC 10 San Diego reports. She allegedly sent the child sexually explicit pictures of herself and asked him to do the same
““Over time, the communications became sexual in nature. When the victim tried to dismiss these communications and put them off, she persisted even more,” said Hart, according to CBS 8. “At one point when the child was 12 years old, she got him in a position where he was alone in her classroom and started making advances. This victim did not know what to do and reported that it felt surreal.”
Ma was released on a $100,000 bail Thursday, March 9. According to ABC 10, she allegedly tried to contact the victim after being released and was arrested a second time. She is now being held without bail at the Las Colinas Women’s Detention Facility.
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