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.