Mother of 3 Sentenced for Sex With Minor
A mother of three was sentenced Friday to 89 days in jail after pleading guilty to having sex on three occasions with a 13-year-old boy who attended the Santa Ana school where she coached cheerleading.
Heather Jean Graham, 35, must register as a sex offender and is prohibited from having any contact with minors unless accompanied by another adult, according to the terms of the sentence imposed by Orange County Superior Court Judge Gregory H. Lewis.
Under the sentence, Graham must also submit to psychiatric counseling and cannot initiate any contact with the 13-year-old.
Graham, who was attired in a black business suit and accompanied by her husband and two of her children, declined to comment. As the family left the courthouse, they walked close together, holding hands.
Graham’s attorney, John Barnett, called the sentence “appropriate.”
Graham was arrested in November after a monthlong investigation by Santa Ana police. She admitted to having had sex with the eighth-grader in June, September and November of 1998. She met the boy, a student at Willard Intermediate School, while she was a parent volunteer for the school’s cheerleading squad.
She is scheduled to begin serving her sentence March 11.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
