LA County middle school teacher charged with sexual abuse of underage student
A former Los Angeles County middle school teacher pleaded not guilty Tuesday to eight felony counts in connection with allegations she sexually abused a male student when he was between the ages of 13 and 14.
Colleen Jo Matarico, 43, allegedly committed the sex crimes between last year and this year and gave the boy cannabis, prosecutors said. She faces charges including five felony counts of lewd act upon a child under age 14, two felony counts of lewd act upon a child age 14 or 15 and one felony count of furnishing a controlled substance to a minor, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. She was arrested by police last Thursday, county inmate records show.
If convicted of all charges, Matarico faces up to 20 years and four months in state prison, prosecutors said.
On Tuesday, she appeared in an LA County Superior Court where Judge Susan J. De Witt kept her bail set at $590,000. If she makes bail, she must wear a GPS monitoring device. Her next court date is set for Nov. 26.
During the hearing, Deputy District Attorney Ariel Anson objected to a potential reduction in bail and told the judge that Matarico kept up contact with the victim after first learning of an investigation last year. Anson said prosecutors are "fearful" that Matarico would violate a criminal protective order currently barring her from contacting or seeing the boy.
"She first met him at 12 years old," Anson said. "And the inappropriate relationship started at 13 years old while she was still his teacher. After the investigation, (which) she believed was over, the relationship did not end."
The prosecutor cited alleged Instagram messages between Matarico and the victim.
"In the messages between her and that minor, she indicates that she is in love with him, that he is the only one that she would go to jail for... and that he is her crystal meth," Anson said, alleging that Matarico's ex-husband and other family members have pleaded for her to stop contact but she did not.
When Judge De Witt asked Matarico if she would like to respond, she shook her head and declined.
Anson told the judge that Matarico's "conduct got worse" after learning of the investigation, and she "went to the new school where the victim attends and has engaged in an inappropriate relationship with him in his car, potentially either waiting for him outside of the school or during school hours." The prosecutor also said the victim once told a family member of Matarico's that the former teacher "can be very jealous and that he is concerned and scared."
"I don't know to what extent or exactly what that means," Anson said.
Deputy Public Defender Carlos Bido argued for Matarico to be released on her own recognizance or on GPS tracking, saying she has two children, who are ages 15 and 11, and is not a flight risk as she has lived in the same LA County home for 17 years. He also said she remains unemployed after her teaching job ended last year.
De Witt allowed Matarico's bail to be remain set at $590,000, the same amount when she was first charged last week.