Prometheus 6

Teacher: Flight to Mexico Was Boy's Idea
By OSKAR GARCIA
Associated Press Writer

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- A former teacher accused of having sex with a 13-year-old student said it was the boy's idea to flee to Mexico and that he told her he would kill her if she left him.

"He was pressuring me and that's why we chose to leave," Kelsey Peterson said at a pretrial hearing Monday where U.S. Magistrate Judge F.A. Gossett denied bail, saying Peterson was a flight risk.

Peterson said the boy left bruises on her arms and chest, told her what to wear and threatened her life. She said he was in a gang and had her name tattooed across his chest, and that the boy's family knew about and encouraged their relationship.

The boy's lawyers disputed Peterson's allegations and accused her attorney of lying and using Mexican stereotypes to cloud facts of the case.