The Associated Press
COVINGTON — A felony sex charge against a Northern Kentucky teacher can go forward, a judge has ruled.
Prosecutors argued at a hearing in Covington on Tuesday that Dayton High School teacher Nicole Elizabeth Howell should be charged with first-degree sex abuse for allegedly having sex with a 16-year-old student.
Defense attorney Pat Moeves asked that the charge against his 25-year-old client be thrown out because the student wasn’t in any of her classes, The Kentucky Enquirer reported. “Our client didn’t exercise any undue influence or control over the alleged victim,” he said.
Kenton County prosecutor Brian Richmond countered that simply being a teacher put Howell in a position of authority.
The first-degree sex abuse charge was remanded to a grand jury. The felony charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.
The law that took effect in July raises the age at which a person can consent to have sex from 16 to 18 when the adult is in a position of authority. Before the change, Howell could have been charged only with a misdemeanor, which carries a penalty of up to one year in jail.
One of Howell’s lawyers, Brian Halloran, said he expects an indictment, and “we will be back before the court and be able to try these issues in earnest once we have discovery.”
Howell, who has been suspended without pay from her job, declined to speak with the newspaper after the hearing. She remains free on a $5,000 cash bond.
During the hearing, Covington Police detective Bryan Frodge testified that Howell telephoned the 16-year-old after a high school football game and invited him to her house. Frodge said Howell acknowledged using bad judgment by talking with and text-messaging the boy, but said nothing illegal happened.
Frodge said the teen was able to describe the inside of Howell’s home and a tattoo on her back.
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