Livermore woman accused of sex with teen boys

(08-09) 18:46 PDT LIVERMORE -- The 42-year-old Livermore mother accused of sexually assaulting two teenage boys first made an advance at one of them when he was 14 and was dating her daughter of the same age, authorities said.

After the incident in December 2008, authorities said, Christine Hubbs sent sexual text messages to the boy and gave him cash, expensive gifts and cellular telephones to maintain contact with her.

The allegations, contained in a police affidavit, were revealed Monday as Hubbs appeared in an Alameda County courtroom in Pleasanton to face charges that have stunned her suburban city.

The mother of three was arraigned on 67 felony counts, including unlawful sex with a minor and exhibition of lewd material to a minor.

Wearing a jail-issue jumpsuit, she flashed a quick smile at her husband - who waved at her from the second row - but cried as the hearing wore on and a judge ordered her bail set at $4.3 million. She did not enter a plea.

About a dozen friends showed up to support Hubbs and her husband of 20 years, Tim Hubbs, a well-known dentist who attended high school in the area.

Christine Hubbs' attorney, Jules Bonjour, asked that the media respect the family's privacy. A friend of six years, Robyn Azevedo of Oakley, said a tight group of friends was surrounding the family.

"This goes against everything we know about Christine and Tim," Azevedo said. "Tim asked us to support him and the family and we're giving it to him."

The jammed courtroom, though, took on a tabloid atmosphere as producers from TV newsmagazine shows passed out business cards. One family friend snapped "Vultures!" at the six camera crews.

Others who know Christine Hubbs said they were in shock.

"You could push me over with a feather right now," said Janice Grant, a Livermore resident who said her children played soccer on the same team as one of the Hubbses' daughters.

Grant described her friend of three years as the ultimate team mom, shuttling her kids to various sporting events and volunteering to make a shopping trip or host a team barbecue.

"I don't know how she could have had any time for this," Grant said.

Hubbs, who was arrested Thursday at her Livermore home, took one alleged victim to a local motel for intercourse, police said. They said she had sex with the second boy, who was 14, at least 15 times in the past eight months.

Police said Hubbs drove the boys around town in her black Hummer H2 - which had a personalized plate reading, "HUMDNGA" - sometimes engaging in sex acts in the vehicle.

Police said they learned of the crimes on July 27, when a mother of one of the alleged victims reported finding a nude photo of Hubbs on his phone.

In a separate misdemeanor charge, authorities allege that Hubbs recently bought pellet and water guns for several boys ages 9 to 14, then drove the boys around Livermore residential neighborhoods - at speeds up to 80 mph - as they fired at bystanders from the windows.

E-mail Justin Berton at jberton@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle