A Mt. Carmel High School drama teacher pleaded not guilty Friday to a sexual relationship with an underage student, which the charges allege ran for several months.
Stacy Michelle Walker, 40, faces 17 felony sex crimes-related charges filed in San Diego Superior Court. She faces 13 years in custody if convicted of all counts, Deputy District Attorney Vanessa Gerard said.
“Miss Walker engaged in a highly inappropriate relationship with a student when she was 15 years old,” Gerard said during Walker’s arraignment. “That relationship then turned sexual over the next two years.”
San Diego police said in a news release Thursday that the abuse was from 2017 to 2019. However, in the complaint filed by prosecutors, the charges Walker faces are for alleged incidents during a much narrower time frame — from late 2018 through the end of May 2019.
Walker had remained in custody in lieu of more than $400,000 bail following her arrest Wednesday, but the prosecutor — citing Walker’s lack of criminal history and her ties to the community — agreed with a request to lower her bail to $150,000. Judge Rod Shelton granted the request.
Walker’s attorney, David Boertje, declined comment after the hearing.
No significant new details of the case emerged during the hearing. San Diego police said earlier this week that Walker began having conversations with the student when the girl was 15 years old. Later, that progressed into sharing photos, videos and explicit text messages.
Police alleged Walker met with the girl several times and engaged in sex acts, and that the incidents continued until after the victim turned 18.
Gerard said the relationship ended in 2020 after the student, known in court as Jane Doe, turned 18.
Authorities have not said where the alleged incidents took place, including whether any occurred at the school, located in Rancho Peñasquitos.
The student came forward to San Diego police last July, and detectives immediately began investigating. A Poway Unified School District spokesperson said police notified the district of the allegations in August. Walker was placed on leave, and she has not taught at Mt. Carmel this school year. The district also opened up an internal investigation.
Walker started working for the district in 2015.
Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 15.
