NFL cheerleader Sarah Jones, captain of the Ben-Gals cheerleading squad, pleaded not guilty Monday to having sex with a high school student at a Kentucky school where she taught.

Jones faces up to five years in prison if convicted on charges of sexual abuse and unlawful use of electronic devices for illegal activities.

She stands accused of having sex with a football player and student at Dixie Heights High School, where Jones taught English at the Edgerton, Ky., until she resigned in November.

The Dixie Heights High School student she allegedly had sex with was 16 years old, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Jones is also captain of the Ben-Gals, the name given to the Cincinnati Bengals cheerleading squad.

How did the allegations come to light?

In a small town in Kentucky, word of anything like that gets out. So there was word of mouth and gossip about it in the community, Harry Rothberger, first assistant commonwealth attorney in the Louisville Commonwealth Attorney's office, which was appointed special prosecutor in the case, told IBTimes. Law enforcement interest was generated by word of mouth in a small town.

News of the allegations was posted by on thedirty.com by a third party.

Eric Deters, Jones' attorney at the time, filed and won an $11 million judgment against the website, but a clerical error invalidated the judgment.

Deters sued the wrong company -- thedirt.com -- a revelation that came out after he and Jones appeared on Anderson Cooper's daytime show, Anderson, to speak about the allegations.

Jones filed a new lawsuit in November that sues The Dirty and its parent company, Dirty World Entertainment LLC, which maintains that it is protected by law that says websites are not liable for false postings by a third party.

Nik Lamas Richie of The Dirty said he's unfazed by the lawsuit.

I am all good in the legal department. I have Cochran Kardashian (that is what I call him to his face) representing my a--. This is just a desperate attempt for attention by some no name DreamKiller, he told his readers.

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