A woman who was a substitute teacher at San Pedro High School pleaded not guilty Wednesday to felony sex-related counts involving two teenage boys, who were both students, and misdemeanor charges involving two others.
Michelle Yeh, 28, is charged with four felony counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor under 16 and two felony counts each of oral copulation of a minor under 16 and committing a lewd act on a child 15 years of age.
She’s also facing three misdemeanor counts of child molesting or sexual annoyance involving two other boys, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
The criminal complaint alleges that the crimes occurred between June 3 and July 27.
Yeh, who became a permanent substitute teacher in February, allegedly pursued relationships with several students, buying them gifts, taking one to Disneyland and meeting another at a hotel.
She was arrested July 17 and released the next day after a $100,000 bond was posted.
Yeh, who taught in the high school’s science department, previously held a number of temporary teaching assignments in the area and provided online tutoring, police said. She is no longer a teacher, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
She is due back in a Long Beach courtroom Sept. 10, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to require her to stand trial.
Yeh faces up to nine years and eight months in state prison if convicted as charged.
— Wire reports