President of PTA Charged
The PTA president at a Torrance elementary school pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of having sex with two underage high school students, authorities said.
Sheryl Jean Graham, 42, was arraigned in Torrance Superior Court, where bail was set at $50,000, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney.
Authorities charged Graham, a mother of five, with eight felony counts, four each of unlawful sexual intercourse and oral copulation of a minor, Gibbons said. The consensual sexual encounters allegedly occurred from January 1, 2003, to June 4, 2004, with two 17-year-old students at West High School in Torrance, Gibbons said.
“She was a booster and volunteer for the West High football team, and I believe one of her children may have gone to the school,” Gibbons said.
Graham also is in her first year as president of the Towers Elementary School PTA.
A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 9 to determine if there is enough evidence to proceed to trial, authorities said.
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