Colette Phelps, Teacher Accused of Sexually Abusing a Student, Is "Deeply Embarrassed"
Categories: Crime
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| Colette Phelps |
It was enough to hear about the Hummer mom who was busted having sex with her 14-year-old daughter's boyfriends. But now readers will have to stomach another disturbing and truly jaw-dropping case where a "well-respected" San Jose private school teacher has been accused of molesting a student.
The San Jose Police Department said today that on June 1, 2011, officers received reports that Colette Phelps, 28, "committed lewd acts" with a juvenile at the Stratford School, which has several elementary and middle-school campuses across the South Bay. The Los Gatos resident was arrested later that day on suspicion of sexual child abuse, according to police.
Phelps, who taught at the school for five years, appeared in court today where her attorney, Steve Clark, stood outside the courthouse talking to reporters. He wouldn't comment much on the case, but told media outlets that Phelps was "deeply embarrassed" by the situation.
She was ordered to return on July 8 when she will enter a plea.
"I will say that Ms. Phelps has had some significant personal and medical challenges in her life recently," Clark said. "I'm going to be appraising the DA office of that."
SF Weekly called school officials, who said they were not taking media interviews right now, however, Sherry Adams, a spokeswoman at Stratford released the following statement:
"We are taking this matter very seriously. As soon as we learned of the situation, we put
Ms. Phelps on indefinite leave and subsequently terminated her employment. We have
done our utmost to fully cooperate with the police during the investigation as well as
ensure the privacy of all involved."
Phelps' Facebook page says she is a middle school specialty course teacher.
Clark then went on to say that Phelps was a well-respected member of the Silicon Valley community.
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