Bertha Adriana Cerna, a former teacher at Toppenish High School, is being held in California.
According to jail records, Cerna, 40, was put into the Orange County jail on Sunday. On Tuesday, she is expected to appear in that court.
In Yakima County Superior Court, 40-year-old Cerna was accused with two charges of providing alcohol to children and first-degree sexual misconduct with a juvenile. She was wanted on a $50,000 bond warrant.
In response to a request from the Yakima County Prosecutor’s Office, the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office launched “an additional investigation” into Bertha Cerna, according to a press statement.
The charges come less than two months after a former pupil filed a lawsuit asserting that Johnny L. Cerna, a former vice principal and wrestling coach at Toppenish High School, and his wife, Bertha, “groomed” the pupil for sex with Johnny. This is according to a report from the Yakima Herald-Republic. According to the lawsuit, the pair allegedly offered the victim booze and drugs.
According to reports, the first look into Bertha and her husband started in June 2021 when a pupil displayed some allegedly “inappropriate” text messages Johnny allegedly sent to her.
The student allegedly informed investigators that Bertha and Johnny had offered her alcohol, which she occasionally took, according to a sworn probable cause affidavit acquired by the Herald-Republic. According to the article, she is accused of providing authorities with numerous images of herself and Bertha carrying what appear to be alcoholic beverages.
The student claimed that she had visited the Cernas’ house on multiple occasions, drinking hard seltzer there frequently and been offered marijuana, according to Kennewick ABC station KAPP-KVEW. Furthermore, according to the investigation, Bertha gave the student a thorough explanation of her sexual interactions with a number of other students, “even going so far as to exhibit images of their penises and text message threads.”
According to reports, a different former pupil offered the name of a recent grad who was supposedly having a sexual relationship with Bertha and admitted to drinking alcohol at the Cernas’ house while she was a cheerleader.
According to KAPP-KVEW, authorities eventually located that former student. He allegedly admitted to having sex with Bertha at a baseball field in her car in June, only two days before he received his high school diploma. He claimed that Bertha offered him booze and cocaine during the encounter, which occurred when he was 17 years old.
According to the now-ex-student, Bertha often made additional attempts to arrange sexual encounters. He allegedly stated that he eventually consented to meet Bertha at her house, where just before he turned 18, she once more participated in inappropriate sexual activity with him.
After a district investigation determined that Bertha and Johnny had improper ties and contacts with pupils, the Cernas were both put on administrative leave in May 2021 and fired from their positions with the school in January 2022.
Bertha reportedly responded, “I have no comment. Fuck you. You can report that.” when the Herald-Republic contacted her for a statement.
John M. Cerna, the Toppenish School District’s superintendent, is both Johnny’s father and Bertha’s father-in-law.
Last known contact information
Address: 1151 Fort Rd Toppenish, WA 98948
Phone: (509) 877-6243
Email: blombera@hotmail.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adriana_cerna_bertha
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tiaberdie7
Additional Videos of Bertha can be viewed here: https://www.tiktok.com/@tsdsecrets and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkKYKPW9STiNso9s1BaO9vg/videos