Arraignment continued for parents accused of framing school aide

Two 38-year-old attorneys who allegedly hatched a plan to frame a school volunteer because they were unsatisfied with how their son was treated appeared in court Monday morning but did not enter a plea.

Jill and Kent Easter allegedly planted drugs on school volunteer Kelli Peters on Feb. 16, 2011. Based off a tip, which police later said came from Kent Easter, authorities searched Peters’ car and found a bag containing marijuana, Percocet and Vicodin.

Peters told police she had no idea where the drugs came from, and after police searched her home, they found no evidence that she was a drug user.

Police became suspicious and began investigating.

The roots of the conflict date appear to have begun two years ago, when the parents filed separate complaints in Orange County Superior Court regarding Peters and their son, who attends Plaza Vista School in Irvine.

One complaint alleged that Peters locked their child, then a first-grader, outside of an after-school program for about 19 minutes. Another complaint was a request for a restraining order filed by Jill Easter. She claimed that Peters was “harassing and stalking” her and her son, and that Peters had threatened to kill Jill Easter.

The pair’s arraignment was continued to Aug. 23.

This story was reported by Times Staff Writer Nicole Santa Cruz