Preliminary hearing for Lawrence para-educator charged with sex crimes moved to January

The preliminary hearing for a 33-year-old Baldwin City woman charged with sex crimes against a teenager has been pushed back to late January, the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office said.

The hearing was initially scheduled for Monday afternoon, but the defense filed a motion to continue, said Cheryl Wright Kunard, assistant to the district attorney. The hearing is now set for 9:30 a.m. Jan. 19.

The woman is charged with one felony count each of unlawful sexual relations, sexual exploitation of a child and promoting obscenity to minors.

The woman was hired by the Lawrence school district on Nov. 24, 2014, and assigned to the Douglas County Youth Services Day School at the Northeast Regional Juvenile Detention Center at 330 N. Industrial Lane. She was arrested Dec. 10 and fired by the school board on Dec. 14.

The woman bonded out of the Douglas County Jail on Dec. 16, said Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Kristen Dymacek.