A former volunteer substitute teacher has pleaded not guilty to a first-degree sexual assault charge related to an alleged affair with a teenager.
Former Catholic High School substitute teacher Erica Suskie entered the plea in North Little Rock District Court Tuesday. Her husband, Paul Suskie, is a former chairman of the Arkansas Public Service Commission who ran unsuccessfully in 2006 for the Democratic nomination for Arkansas Attorney General.
Court documents say the teenager was a family friend, and even though he attended the school where Erica Suskie sometimes taught, the sexual encounters did not involve the school or school property.
Principal Steve Straessle told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that he called the Arkansas State Police abuse hotline to report the relationship after rumors began circulating around the school in October.
