The 45-year-old female teacher was charged with having unlawful sex with a 17-year-old boy from the school.
Aimee Palmitessa, a 45-year-old biology teacher at the Brentwood School, was charged Sep. 15 with seven counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, two counts each of sodomy and sexual penetration by a foreign object of a person under the age of 18, and one count of oral copulation of a person under 18.
Palmitessa has worked at the Brentwood school for the past nine years, and the victim was once one of her students. According to the criminal complaint, Palmitessa is accused of sexually assaulting the teenage boy between June 12 and Aug. 11.
The victim told authorities about the alleged incidents and Palmitessa was arrested on Aug. 18. She was released on $230,000 bond.
Following her arrest, head of school Dr. Mike Riera, placed Palmitessa on administrative leave. He issued a statement shortly after her arrest, which read, in part, “We immediately placed Dr. Palmitessa on leave. We were shocked and distressed to receive the news of these allegations. As always, our primary concern is the safety, health and wellbeing of our students. To that end we will do everything we can to cooperate with the official police investigation.”
If convicted as charged, Palmitessa faces up to 10 years and four months in state prison. She is due back in court on Oct. 16, to set a date for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to send the case to trial.
The case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department.
