Boys accused of spiking teacher's coffee ordered held in jail

Citing the seriousness of the allegations, a King County judge this afternoon ordered two boys accused of spiking a teacher's coffee with a vomit-inducing substance to be held in juvenile detention.

The judge said one suspect, 13, could be released under the condition he agree to electronic monitoring.

However, the second suspect, 14, will not be allowed to be released because he has a prior record. That boy was scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday for an earlier incident in which he had exposed himself to a younger girl.

The boys are accused of pouring syrup of ipecac into their teacher's coffee mug during first period at Sequoyah Middle School in the Federal Way School District, according to King County sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart. Shortly after drinking the coffee, the teacher felt ill and asked another teacher to take over her class, he said.

The teacher, a 39-year-old Auburn woman, was treated at a hospital after ingesting the ipecac and then released.

The boys took turns pouring the ipecac into the coffee mug of teacher Terese Pense, 39, while she wasn't looking because "she kept sending [the 13-year-old] to the office for things he didn't do and he was mad," according a King County sheriff's report.

The boys told other students what they had done and that information made its way to the school's security officers, Urquhart said. They were questioned by sheriff's deputies and arrested on investigation of assault. Both were booked into the King County Youth Service Center.

Both boys were expelled from the school, said Deb Stenberg, a spokeswoman for the Federal Way School District.

As for Pense, "my understanding is she's doing fine and recovering at home," Stenberg said.

Ipecac is made from the dried roots of the ipecacuanha plant, a flowering plant native to Brazil. Stenberg said parents tend to keep syrup of ipecac on hand in the event a child swallows something dangerous or toxic.