Charges against a Blue Mountain Middle School teacher were held over for Schuylkill County Court after a preliminary hearing Monday.
After hearing all the testimony, Magisterial District Judge James R. Ferrier, Orwigsburg, said there was enough evidence for the case to be heard in county court.
Lisa M. Barnes, 45, of Pottsville, is charged with one count each of corruption of minors and institutional sexual assault and two of indecent assault.
The charges stem from an alleged incident March 14 at the middle school during the family consumer science class she teaches.
It is alleged that she inappropriately touched a 13-year-old male student during class time. She has since been put on paid administrative leave.
"I'm confident we will win this at trial," Barnes' attorney, Fred Fanelli, said.
Barnes had no comment after the hearing. Neither did Schuylkill County Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Nicole Lehman.
Fanelli said Barnes, who did not testify, was pleading not guilty at the start of the hearing.
The 13-year-old boy who said he was touched was the first to testify about the alleged incident that day.
He said he was sitting at a table when Barnes placed a container with a needle between his legs and touched him.
Before going into his testimony, Lehman asked him and the other students who were there to testify if they knew the difference between a lie and the truth.
All would say they did, and were reminded that they could get in trouble if they did not tell the truth. Lehman said about 30 students were in the class at the time.
The incident occurred about 8:30 a.m., the boy said. He was wearing shorts when the incident took place, he said.
Barnes was also seated, he said, though other witnesses later disputed this.
He said Barnes put the container between his legs and touched his private area. He said she slid her hand up his leg.
"When she got towards my private area, it was, like, cupped," he said.
After the alleged incident, he said she started to talk to the students and continue with class. The boy said Barnes allegedly touched him "maybe a second or two."
The boy said he didn't give her permission to touch him in that manner.
"What did you do after that?" Lehman asked the boy.
"I, like, slid my chair back and then I walked around," in the room and later sat down, he said.
He said he did not say anything to Barnes when the alleged incident took place. She also did not say anything to him, he said.
The 13-year-old said he didn't think it was an accident because she would have apologized, he said.
He later went to the school office and told Vice Principal Mark Cesari about what occurred. Principal James McGonigle also was informed.
He waited until after lunch because he did not want to miss class, he said, something McGonigle confirmed.
Fanelli asked the boy if he told McGonigle that it was not an accident because she didn't apologize, and the boy said yes.
Fanelli then asked when he signed up for extra help for the class. The boy said he thought he did that before the class started.
Fanelli then asked him, "What if she had apologized?"
"I guess I would not have been that upset about it," the boy said.
However, other students disputed some of the details.
A 12-year-old girl said she noticed Barnes allegedly doing something.
"When she set it down, Ms. Barnes touched his private parts," the girl said about setting the small bottle on the chair.
The look on his face said it all, she said.
"After it happened, he had a shocked face," she said.
The girl, however, said Barnes was standing and not sitting during the incident.
"Are you completely positive Ms. Barnes was standing when this happened?" Fanelli asked.
"Yes," the girl said.
A 13-year-old boy sitting near the victim said he saw Barnes, who was standing, place the bottle between the legs of the boy.
He said Barnes did a "quick grab" of the victim's private area.
He said the victim appeared "shocked."
The victim did not come back to first period "for a long time" after the incident, he said.
A 14-year-old girl said the teacher was standing when the incident took place.
"She was grabbing him," with the palm of her hand, she said, but said Barnes still had the bottle in her hand.
She also said the boy had a look of shock on his face.
Another 13-year-old girl said the victim as sitting on the chair when the incident took place.
"She grabbed him between his legs," she said of Barnes.
The victim then stood up and called Barnes a terrorist, the girl said.
"I don't think she heard him say that when he walked away," the girl said.
Fanelli asked the witnesses if they heard the victim call Barnes a terrorist or make comments about her being Muslim or if he ever watched a video about how to get a teacher fired.
A 13-year-old boy called by the defense said that the incident did not happen. However, Lehman said that is not what he said previously to the school district.
They boy said the victim makes comments about Barnes quite frequently that are not positive.
"It really bothers me that he is lying about it," the boy said about the victim and what took place.
McGonigle said during his testimony he was informed by text message at 12:35 p.m. that day by Cesari that he needed to come to meet with him as soon as possible.
He said the victim told him he thought it was an accident.
In their closing arguments, Fanelli said the situation does not add up.
"Not one single kid told a consistent story here," he said.
He asked Ferrier to dismiss all charges.
Lehman agreed there were inconsistencies in what the testimony provided at the hearing.
However, a jury should decided if those who testified are credible or not, she said.