Anaheim : School Band Director Denies Sex Charges

An Anaheim high school band director pleaded not guilty in North Orange Superior Court on Monday to charges that he had sexual relations with two of his former band students.

Jeffrey William Plum, 29, is set to face a jury trial Aug. 5 on felony and misdemeanor counts of unlawful sexual relations, according to Plum’s attorney, Paul Wallin. Superior Court Judge James O. Perez set the date during Plum’s arraignment Monday.

Plum, who was suspended without pay from his job at Western High School, was ordered to stand trial in Superior Court after North Orange County Municipal Judge Logan Moore heard testimony from two students on June 10.

During the two-day preliminary hearing, one of the girls testified she had had sex with Plum in a private room at a hot-tub club and in a school restroom before a basketball game, Wallin said.

The girl, who was 15 at the time, admitted to having a “crush” on the band director. Plum’s attorneys said the girls fabricated the stories because he would not follow up on their advances.

Police said the girls reported the incidents, which allegedly occurred early last year and this year, because they were concerned about Plum’s possible treatment of other girls during an upcoming band trip to Sacramento.