Sarah Jones is the 26-year-old captain of the Cincinnati Bengals cheerleading squad who until not long ago worked as a high school English teacher in her native Kentucky.
Now she is being accused of having sex with a student.
Jones pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of first-degree sexual abuse and unlawful use of electronic devices for illegal activities — crimes that could send her to prison for up to 10 years, according to the
Cincinnati Enquirer.
Her mother, Cheryl Jones, a middle-school principal, also faces a charge of tampering with evidence in connection with her daughter’s case. Their trial date has been set for June 27.
Jones, the 2011 team captain of the Ben-Gals, was indicted last week on allegations of a sexual relationship with a senior — who in one report is described as a 16-year-old high school football player — at her Kentucky high school, according to , a charge both she and the student reportedly deny. Jones resigned from her teaching job last November.
The shows a dark-haired “Sarah J.” as team captain, posing against a tiger-print background. It says she is a five-year veteran of the squad with a bachelor’s degree in middle grades education, with an emphasis in English and Mathematics.
The football cheerleader made headlines in 2009 when she sued the founder of gossip site TheDirty.com for posting her picture and claiming she contracted a sexually transmitted disease and was having sex with Bengals players, according to the . She was awarded $11 million for defamation but the case is ongoing.
Auditions for the 2012 Ben-Gals squad take place this month and next.
Jones is not the first cheerleader to get into trouble. In 2006, a former Carolina Panthers cheerleader got into a bar brawl after she was accused of having sex with another cheerleader in the bathroom. She pleaded no contest and avoided jail time.
