UPDATED: Vice Principal Accused of Sex with Boys Denied Lower Bail

Update 3:40 p.m.:  A judge Monday declined to reduce the $1 million bail for a female Hemet high school assistant principal accused of engaging in sex acts with three male students.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Michael J. Rushton kept Henton's bail as is -- she is being held at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta -- and scheduled a felony settlement conference for May 23, according to court records.

Original story as follows:

An assistant principal at a high school in Hemet accused of engaging in sex acts with three male students will ask a judge Monday to lower her bail so she can get out of jail.

Erin Renee Henton could face more than 30 years in prison if convicted of seven counts of statutory rape, four counts of oral copulation of a minor and distributing pornographic material to a child.

Henton, 45, is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta. She and her attorney, Jason Najarian, requested a bail review hearing before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Elaine Johnson in the hope of persuading the judge that the defendant is neither a flight risk or poses a danger to society.

Johnson has the discretion to lower Henton's bail to whatever amount the judge deems reasonable. The District Attorney's Office is expected to argue that the amount should remain as fixed.

According to Hemet police Lt. Duane Wisehart, the three alleged victims were from Tahquitz High School, where Henton served as vice principal.

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

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

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