Ex-Teacher Faces Sex Charges -- She's Accused Of Seducing Meridian Jr. High Student

Laura Foster, who was twice named teacher of the year by her students at Kent's Meridian Junior High School, has been charged with third-degree rape of one of her students.

Pleads not guilty

She pleaded not guilty to the charges in King County Superior Court.

Charges were filed against her in August; she is free on personal recognizance.

Foster 35, is married, with two young children. She began teaching at the school in 1985.

Complaints last spring

She lost her job last spring after complaints were made to the school district, and she has since given up her teaching certificate.

Prosecutors allege that Foster first became physical with the boy while taking him home from an after-school event in late 1991, kissing and fondling him. They say that in February 1992, she brought the boy to her home, where they had sex.

Late last year, the boy told a friend of the relationship, prosecutors say. The mother of one of the boy's friends reported it to the school district.

Foster's lawyer, James Lobsenz, had no comment on the charges.

A 1976 graduate of Kent-Meridian High School, Foster dropped plans to become a lawyer in favor of teaching after she worked as an instructional aide to special-education students at Mattson Junior High in Kent. At Meridian, where Foster taught social studies, she was adviser to the student government and the yearbook staff.