Ben-Gals cheerleader charged over sexual relationship with a student.

Ben-Gals cheerleader pleads not guilty to sexually abusing student
BY JIM HANNAH Gannett News Service April 2, 2012 6:46PM

Sarah Jones, 26, the team captain of the Ben-Gals cheerleading squad, leaves court Monday in Covington, Ky., after pleading not guilty to sexually abusing a student when she was a high school teacher. | Patrick Reddy~AP
Updated: April 3, 2012 3:03PM

COVINGTON, Ky. — A Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader indicted for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a student when she was a high school teacher pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday.

Sarah Jones, 26, the team captain of the Ben-Gals cheerleading squad, pleaded not guilty Monday in Kenton Circuit Court to first-degree sexual abuse. She also pleaded not guilty to unlawful use of electronic means to induce a minor to engage in sexual or other prohibited activities, a charge often reserved for people who peddle in child pornography over the Internet. The charges are in connection to allegations she had a sexual relationship with a senior at Dixie Heights High School in Edgewood, Ky.

Jones’ mother, 55-year-old Cheryl Jones, appeared in court at her daughter’s side to plead not guilty to tampering with physical evidence in the case. Cheryl Jones was suspended from her job as principal at Twenhofel Middle School in Independence, Ky., after being indicted Thursday.

Each of the charges is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

Sarah Jones’ estranged husband does not have much to say about the allegations against his wife.

“To be honest with you, I don’t want to talk about her,” said Nathan Wilburn, who was 26 when the couple married nine months ago. They are seeking to annul their marriage. Sarah Jones’ amended petition for annulment was filed March 21. Sarah Jones married Wilburn on July 16, according to public records, but Sarah Jones moved out of her husband’s residence Aug. 24. According to the petition for annulment filed in Kenton Circuit Court, the marriage was not consummated.

Judge Patricia Summe reduced Sarah Jones’ $50,000 bond and Cheryl Jones’ $30,000 bond to $15,000 each. She required the pair to be placed on electric monitoring as a term of their release.

Summe ordered the daughter and mother to have no contact with the underage victim and his family despite the fact that the victim’s relatives attended the arraignment in support of the Joneses. The two families sat in the same pew in the courtroom’s gallery as they waited for the case to be called.

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