Update: May 16, 2008

Ms. Swogger was held for trial on 40 charges involving numerous minors in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties.A 17-year-old boy testified yesterday that he carried on a months-long sexual relationship with a former teacher's aide more than twice his age who regularly paid for beer and marijuana.

Based on his words and those of five other witnesses, Abbie Jane Swogger was held for trial on 40 charges accusing her of sex, drug and corruption crimes involving numerous minors in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties.

Through her lawyer, Duke George, Ms. Swogger pleaded not guilty.

Ms. Swogger, who spent her 35th birthday Wednesday in jail, appeared frustrated and jumpy, sometimes jiggling her leg or flexing her fingers.

Clad in a maroon jumpsuit and wearing handcuffs attached by a chain that clinked when she adjusted it, Ms. Swogger sometimes turned to speak to a female friend and her teenage son, who sat through sometimes graphic testimony.

At one point after a 15-year-old boy testified about her giving him oral sex, she mouthed the words to her son, "Don't believe everything he says." The 15-year-old is the 17-year-old's brother.

Police arrested Ms. Swogger in February after she stayed overnight at the Clarion Hotel in New Kensington with several male and female juveniles. In the room, police found crack cocaine, the odor of marijuana, beer and used condoms.

The 17-year-old said Ms. Swogger furnished $500 for the crack, which she planned to sell.

After the three-hour hearing before Harrison District Judge Carolyn S. Bengel, Mr. George told reporters that his client's interaction with the 17-year-old was "like a mother-son relationship."

"It's a sad case," Mr. George said. "It's sad for her and her family."

After Mr. George left, a constable escorted Ms. Swogger into a back alley to speak with the media.

"I'm not guilty," she said, adding that she thought the teenagers who testified were lying. "I thought it was outrageous."

Asked if she had sexual relations with minors, Ms. Swogger responded, "No comment."

At that point, a woman who said Ms. Swogger had dated one of her relatives yelled, "You should be ashamed! You're sick."

Ms. Swogger, a former exotic dancer, was a special-education aide at Highlands Senior High School. She resigned in February after police uncovered the hotel party as they searched for two runaway girls.

The girls ended up at the hotel with Ms. Swogger after they ran into the 15-year-old. One girl testified that Ms. Swogger stroked her thigh.

"She said that she was bisexual and her goal was to get us all high and to have sex with us," the girl said.

Judge Bengel dismissed a handful of charges, including those related to allegations that Ms. Swogger offered to pay a 15-year-old girl up to $40 to beat up another girl who supposedly posted an incriminating photo on the Internet.

The picture was of Ms. Swogger with a group of teenagers at a house party during which she allegedly stripped down to her underwear and allowed the youths to fondle her.

Ms. Swogger remains in jail on $150,000 bond.
 

Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08137/882318-85.stm

Photos, taken with a cell phone camera, surfaced on the Internet in the days after Swogger's arrest.

The latest police papers claim that a 17-year-old Harrison boy admitted to having a "sexual relationship" with Swogger for several weeks starting in January.

She is accused of having sex with the boy in her rented house in Natrona Heights and "on numerous occasions" gave him alcohol and marijuana.

When confronted with that by New Kensington police, Swogger allegedly asked police, "How serious is that?"

On Feb. 28 after Swogger's arrest, she allegedly left her house and asked two girls to give a cell phone to one of the youths from the hotel party. Her bond was revoked for leaving her house without authorization.

She also allegedly offered to give two girls $40 to beat up another girl who allegedly posted one of Swogger's nude photos on the Web.

Before the 33 new charges, she was charged for things arising from the hotel party as well as allegedly soliciting sex from two minor girls, having unlawful contact with minors, having cocaine, and corrupting the morals of minors.

Swogger's attorney, Duke George, called the new charges "even more ridiculous than the previous ones."

Prosecutors from Westmoreland and Allegheny counties have agreed to combine all of the charges into one case to be prosecuted in Allegheny County.

As a result, Swogger's latest preliminary hearing is now scheduled to be held May 1 before District Judge Carolyn Bengel in Harrison.

Swogger remains in the Westmoreland County jail.

Source: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_564054.html?source=rss&feed=10

Update:

May 1, 2008

HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Bond was set Thursday at $150,000 for an ex-Highlands Senior High School teacher's aide who police said was found in a hotel room with drugs, alcohol and minors.

"I did nothing wrong. I'm completely innocent," Abbie-Jane Swogger told WTAE Channel 4 Action News as she left District Judge Carolyn Bengel's office.

Swogger, a 34-year-old mother of two and former exotic dancer, was originally charged with felony crack cocaine possession, corruption of minors and possession with intent to deliver.

Police said she rented a Clarion Hotel room where they found beer, 9.5 grams of crack and teenage boys and girls on Feb. 22.

But New Kensington police are now saying Swogger lured two girls to the hotel in the hopes of getting them drunk and high and then wanted them to have sex with her. The new charges include unlawful contact with minors and delivery of controlled substances.

"It's an exorbitant bond under the circumstances," said attorney Duke George. "This girl is really no threat to anybody. It's just a sad scenario that the bond is this high."

Swogger is due back in court later this month for a preliminary hearing.

"It's important for us to detain her so she doesn't corrupt more people," said New Kensington Police Detective Dennis Marsili.

At the hotel party, police said, Swogger tried to convince the two girls to have sex with her, hoping the boys that were also there would join in.

Police said they believe group sex was the plan after Swogger got the teens drunk and high. Police are also alleging Swogger sold crack at the party.

Swogger has said that she rented the room with friends for a night out without her children. But she said her son showed up with friends, who refused to leave.

George says the teens are trumping up the charges against Swogger so that they don't get into trouble for using drugs themselves.

"Everybody looks at her based on allegations in the criminal complaint," said George. "But I want to remind everybody that they are just allegations made by people who are cooperating with police to save themselves."

According to police, at the party, Swogger had sex with one of the teenage boys. During Swogger's arrest at her apartment last month, the same 17-year-old boy who was at the party was found in her bedroom, police said.

Harrison Township police are also investigating a photo sent to them, which they believe shows Swogger engaging in sex acts with at least two minors.

Swogger remains in custody at the Westmoreland County Prison.

Source: http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/15722177/detail.html