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Officials: School aide let boy touch her

Educational helper accused of having unlawful relationship with 11-

year-old boy.

By Humphrey

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Thursday, November 23, 2006

A Live Oak Elementary educational aide allowed an 11-year-old boy to

raise her bra and touch her inappropriately at her home, according to

an affidavit filed Wednesday.

Kumi Ann Houston, 47, was arrested Tuesday and charged with having an

improper relationship between an educator and a student.

(enlarge photo)

Kumi Ann Houston Aide in Round Rock district took boy to her house,

officials say.

MORE ON THIS STORY

The incident occurred in mid-June in the bedroom of Houston's home on

Twisted Briar Lane in far Northwest Austin, according to the

affidavit. The boy is a student at Live Oak, in the Round Rock school

district, the document says.

When a detective from the on County sheriff's office spoke to

Houston on Saturday, she admitted that she and the boy had gone to

her bedroom, the document said.

Houston's lawyer, M. , said she is a beloved wife and

mother who had never been arrested before.

said he disagreed with the affidavit's description of his

client's behavior, especially the part that said she admitted to the

incident.

" The words 'admitted' and 'allowed' are characterizations, "

said. " They are conclusions, and we vigorously differ with some of

those conclusions in that affidavit. "

Houston was booked into the on County Jail on Tuesday and was

later released on $50,000 bail. The second-degree felony charge

carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Principal Fisher sent a note to parents Tuesday saying Houston

had been fired. School officials contacted the sheriff's office

immediately after a staff member received an anonymous tip about the

alleged inappropriate relationship, she said in the letter.

Detective , a spokesman for the sheriff's office, declined

to comment on the case Wednesday, citing an ongoing investigation.

Houston was in her second year as an educational aide in the district

and had worked only at Live Oak, said JoyLynn Occhiuzzi, a

spokeswoman for the district.

Houston passed a criminal background check prior to being hired, and

school officials never took any disciplinary action against her

during her career with the district, Occhiuzzi said.

Live Oak Elementary, located at 8607 Mill Lane, has students

in kindergarten through fifth grade.