A forty-four-year-old Burlington High School Spanish teacher, Giovanna Yaranga, was arraigned Monday and pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual exploitation of a minor.
Chittenden County State's Attorney T.J. Donovan said the investigation started after police found Yaranga and a teenage boy in the back seat of a car behind a building at about 8 p.m. on April 29. Court records say Yaranga told police she was a teacher and the boy was a student and they were in the back seat because they needed more leg room.
The Burlington Free Press reports that Yaranga has been ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim or with children under 18 except for her family.
The school district says it had no evidence of physical improprieties nor sexual misconduct by Ms. Yaranga and she had been placed on administrative leave pending a criminal investigation and an internal investigation.
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