Cheerleader Sarah Jones Pleads Not Guilty to Sexual Abuse
Bengals cheerleader and former teacher Sarah Jones has pleaded not guilty after being accused of sexually abusing a student.
The 26-year-old captain of the Cincinnati Ben-Gals cheerleading squad was indicted last week on charges that she had sex with a 16-year-old high school football player several times and exchanged inappropriate text messages with the teen, Cincinnati Enquirer has reported.
Jones resigned from her position at Dixie Heights High School as an English teacher last November after sexual abuse accusations emerged, as well as allegations of unlawful use of electronic devices.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Citing "personal reasons," the cheerleader resigned from her teaching duties the day police first began investigating the allegations, reported Ohio's WLWT.
"The day the police openly investigated, that was the same day she submitted her resignation," said Dixie Heights Superintendent Terri Cox-Cruey.
"No parents or students ever approached me in all the years she worked for the district with any concern," she added.
The Kentucky high school is just miles from Twenhofel Middle School where Jones' mother, Cheryl, serves as principal.
Cheryl Jones was also summoned to court Monday where she pleaded not guilty of tampering with evidence to cover up her daughter's alleged crime. The principal is currently suspended from her job at the school pending a further investigation.
Both Jones and her mother were held under $15,000 bond each, and both will be forced to wear electronic monitoring bracelets as a condition of their release.
"The student denies it. The parents of the student are upset that this has gone where it has," said attorney Eric Deters in December, according to The Washington Post. "They don't have anything bad to say about Sarah. Sarah denies it. There's no victim. There's nobody saying, 'Hey, this happened.'"
The pre-trial date is set for next month.
