Hemet Vice Principal Pleads Not Guilty to Sex Charges, Facing 10+ Years in Prison

A female assistant principal accused of engaging in sex acts with three male students at a Hemet high school pleaded not guilty Friday to a dozen felony charges, jail records indicate.

Erin Renee Henton could face a maximum of 10 years, four months, in prison if she's convicted of the charges as they stand now, according to Riverside County District Attorney Spokesman John Hall.  Hall said the charges are as follows:

• Seven counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor (involves all three victims)
• Four counts of oral copulation with a minor (involves all three victims)
• One count of distribution of lewd material to a minor

The charges were filed late Thursday, and Henton appeared Friday afternoon at the Murrieta court.

Henton, 45, went before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Elaine Johnson, who, at the request of the defense, set a bail review hearing in the case for April 15. The defendant is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta.

"The incidents are believed to have occurred over several months," Wisehart said. "The incidents did not occur on the school campus."

According to Hall, the alleged crimes are believed to have occurred from September 2012 through March 2013.  Exact ages or grades of the victims were not provided.

The Hemet Unified School District suspended Henton on March 8 when the allegations first came to light, Wisehart said.

He said detectives immediately initiated an investigation that led to the identification of the alleged victims, whose identities were not released.

—City News Service contributed to this report.