A 45-year-old special-education teacher accused of having sex with a student in Arizona did not flee to Hawaii to avoid prosecution because she was unaware of the charges against her, the woman’s lawyer said.
Deborah Nicholson-Hoshiyama was in state court Thursday, when she waived extradition and agreed to return to Arizona to answer the charges.
Circuit Judge Richard Perkins told Nicholson-Hoshiyama that she can post $250,000 bail or remain in custody until Arizona officials pick her up.
Deputy Prosecutor Cecelia Chang told Perkins that a grand jury in Arizona returned an indictment Oct. 20 charging Nicholson-Hoshiyama with five counts of sexual conduct with a minor. She said each charge carries a penalty of seven to 21 years in prison.
U.S. Marshals Service deputies said the alleged offenses happened from about Aug. 1, 2007, to April 11, 2008. They arrested Nicholson-Hoshiyama at a Waikiki condominium early Tuesday morning.
A Maricopa County Attorney’s Office spokesman said there is no statute of limitations for charging someone with sexual conduct with a minor.
Defense attorney Jason Burks said Nicholson-Hoshiyama did not change her identity when she moved here in August with her fiance and two minor children. He said she lived openly and used her real name when she applied for permission to teach in Hawaii.
Burks told Perkins that when the sexual conduct allegations were first made seven years ago, the school where she was teaching reported them to police. He said both the school and police conducted investigations.
"And essentially nothing came of it," he said. "She continued to teach in the area, continued to work and had no further contact with police regarding this case."
Then about two years ago, when the student turned 18, his family sued the school over the alleged sexual conduct, Burks said. He said Nicholson-Hoshiyama was not asked to provide a statement, and she had no idea what happened to the lawsuit.
Nicholson-Hoshiyama’s fiance, who would identify himself only as Jason, said outside of court Thursday that she ran a self-contained classroom for special-education, emotionally disturbed children within a public school.
He said the allegations are false and come from an emotionally disturbed boy who has been diagnosed as bipolar. He said the boy’s threats had police responding to the school many times.
"We were just living in paradise, and this is what happens," he said, "This is a sick ordeal."
