Updated: Los Gatos Resident Charged With Lewd Acts

Los Gatos resident Colette Phelps, 28, has been arrested and charged with lewd acts against a child, according to San Jose police.

Phelps was arrested without incident at 6 p.m. June 1 by the San Jose Police Department Child Exploitation Detail, after officers received a report that morning that Phelps, a teacher at an undisclosed San Jose Stratford School, had molested a student, police said late Tuesday evening in a press release issued to the news media.

Police say Phelps has been a teacher at the private Stratford School for about five years and posted bail and is no longer in custody.

Update: 10 p.m., June 15:

Phelps was arraigned Wednesday, but did not enter a plea, according to Amy Cornell, a spokeswoman for the the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.

Phelps is charged with two counts of committing a lewd or lascivious act with a child aged 14 or 15. The acts are alleged to have occurred with a teenage boy between April 10 and June 1 of this year, Cornell said.

She was ordered to return to court to enter a plea on July 8 at 9:30 a.m. in Department 23 of the Santa Clara County Courthouse in San Jose.

Stratford Schools founder Sherry Adams said in a statement that the school put Phelps on indefinite leave as soon as it learned of the situation and then fired her.

"We are taking this matter very seriously," Adams said. "We have done our utmost to fully cooperate with the police during the investigation as well as ensure the privacy of all involved." Adams said the school regularly consults with experts on school safety policies, training and human resources on the safety measures it has in place, which include background checks, fingerprinting and specific training related to child safety.

Phelp's defense attorney Steve Clark did not return a call requesting comment.

The San Jose Police Department is asking anyone with information about the allegations to contact Det. D. Ichigue or Sgt. R. Schriefer with the Child Exploitation Detail/Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force at 408-277-4102. 

Persons wishing to remain anonymous can call the Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers tip line at 408-947-STOP (7867).

—Bay City News Services contributed to this report