Herald staff
Lawyers will continue to quiz jurors individually and in private this morning as part of the effort to select a panel to judge a mother and school teacher accused of child rape and child molestation.
Susan G. Lemery, 38, of Marysville is on trial in Snohomish County Superior Court. A second-grade teacher in the Mukilteo School District, she’s accused of having sex with and fondling two 14-year-old boys who frequented her home and were friends with her son.
Many jurors are being questioned about what they may have read or heard about the case, which has generated considerable publicity since her arrest last June. Others may have had sexual molestation incidents in their family, and lawyers want to know how that may affect decisions they would make as jurors.
Lawyers hope a panel will be selected by Wednesday, and opening statements are expected by Thursday.
Lemery is charged with three counts of child rape in April 2001, and three counts of child molestation in late 2000 and early 2001.
She’s been on paid administrative leave from her job at Olivia Park Elementary School. The alleged victims are not her students.
Lemery will continue to be paid unless she’s convicted. If that happens, her teaching certificate most likely would be revoked by the state superintendent of public instruction, said Andy Muntz, Mukilteo School District spokesman.
The trial could last up to three weeks.
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