( 4UMF NEWS ) Cheerleading Coach Accused Of Sleeping With Student:
A 22-year-old Indiana high school cheerleading coach accused of seducing a teenage boy who plays on the school’s basketball team has pleaded not guilty, insisting she didn’t break the law.
Megan Crafton, a part-time assistant cheerleading coach at Shelbyville High School, allegedly performed oral sex on the 17-year-old boy while in her car at a supermarket parking lot in January.
Crafton has admitted to having sexual relations with the student, but argues it was not illegal, 24-Hour News 8 reported after her court appearance Thursday.
Though the age of consent in Indiana is 16, state law forbids school employees from consorting with students under age 18 whom they oversee or supervise, police say.
Crafton’s lawyer, G. Allen Lidy, said that Crafton was not in a position of authority over the student, the Indianapolis Star reported.
“She wasn’t his coach,” Lidy told the paper. “She wasn’t his teacher. She wasn’t his teacher’s assistant.”
The Shelbyville police aren’t buying it.
“When she signed on as an assistant cheerleading coach, she took a responsibility that she wouldn’t have relations at that school,” Michael Turner, a lieutenant at the Shelbyville Police Department, told Fox59.com.
School officials alerted police about the relationship after hearing rumors circulating the school, reported 24-Hour News 8. If found guilty, Crafton could face up to three years in jail. A trial is set for Sept. 24.
