The 14-year-old boy who allegedly had a sexual relationship with a Pennsburg woman testified during her preliminary hearing last week. Red Hill District Judge Maureen Coggins eventually held over seven criminal counts against Kelly Ann Schutte, 35, of Penn Street.

            The boy, the only witness during the Tuesday, Dec. 19 hearing, was questioned directly by Caroline Rose Goldstein, a Montgomery County assistant district attorney. He is a student in the Pennridge School District and attended the same school where Schutte worked as a guidance counselor.

            The boy was also cross-examined by William Joshua Buchanan, a Quakertown defense attorney.

            A joint investigation by the Upper Perk Police Department and the Pennridge Regional Police Department led to Schutte's arrest on Friday, Nov. 10. She faces three felony counts of sexual contact with a student, one count of corruption of a minor and three misdemeanor counts of indecent assault of a person 16-years-old or younger, according to information posted on a state judicial website.

            Law enforcement officials filed charges against Schutte on Thursday, Nov. 9 in Coggins' court.

            The victim's mother learned of the relationship on July 17 because he called her saying he needed to be picked up from the area of Schutte's home, according to the criminal complaint filed in the court.

            The victim – a student at South Middle School, located at 610 S. Fifth Street in Perkasie – reported that one of Schutte's family members observed him kiss her in her home. The family member, who was outside the residence at first, entered the house and angrily told the victim to get out.

            The frightened boy ran from the house and hid on a nearby street while calling his parents to pick him up, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

            Two days later, in an interview with law enforcement officials, the boy reported that he and Schutte had sexual contact at locations in Montgomery and Bucks counties in June and July. He told police that he began talking with Schutte regularly during the fall of 2022 following a class trip during which he sat with her on the school bus.

            The boy also said he would regularly get called to Schutte's office throughout the remainder of the school year which resulted in him missing class, according to information provided by Matthew Boaman, a lieutenant with the Upper Perk Police Department.

            Authorities also claim the victim told them he and Schutte spent time together in mid-June at his family home in West Rockhill Township, while his parents and older sibling were at a concert in New York. Police allegedly recovered an earring that fell out of the woman's ear during her sexual encounter in the boy's bedroom.

            Authorities claim the two visited Weis Market, located at 498 Pottstown Avenue in Pennsburg, at 4:15 p.m. on July 17. Schutte is accused of performing a sex act on the boy in her vehicle while traveling from her home to the store.

            Surveillance footage shows Schutte and the boy selecting and purchasing a bottle of wine. Similar video obtained from Pennsburg Borough Hall, located at 76 West 6th St., and Upper Perk Police headquarters, located at 88 West 6th St., confirmed the victim's statements about his route of travel with Schutte on that day, according to the legal document.

            Schutte has been on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigation, since the Pennridge School District became aware of these allegations in July 2023. In a statement posted on the district's website, Superintendent Angelo G. Berrios stated that administrators will not provide any additional information due to the confidentiality of this personnel matter.

            Schutte remains free on $25,000 unsecured bail, set on Nov. 10 by Coggins. A formal arraignment in Norristown has been scheduled for Video Room #2 at 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 31, 2024, according to the legal website.