The mother of a boy who had a romantic relationship with his teacher went on national television Tuesday and blamed the Brighton school's then-top administrator for trying to cover up the situation when it came to light.

But at other points in the seven-minute interview with Matt Lauer on the Today show, Sheree Clay and her son, Tommy, conceded that he and the teacher initially lied about their relationship and the boy's parents helped keep it quiet.

"We were honoring Tommy's wishes at first," Sheree Clay said. "We didn't do anything. We didn't call the police. We didn't do anything because Tommy was adamant about protecting the teacher."

Police allege that Tommy Clay and teacher Carrie -McCandless "did everything except have sex" in the fall during an overnight class field trip to Estes Park that she chaperoned.

McCandless, 30, faces felony charges of sexual assault on a child by someone in a position of trust and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She is seeking a plea agreement with Larimer County prosecutors. A hearing is scheduled for April 24.

Tommy Clay was 17 when he said his friendship with McCandless turned romantic during summer school.

After the class trip, students began talking, and another teacher found a note passed between the boy and McCandless. That teacher turned in the note to Principal Chris -McCandless, the husband of Carrie McCandless.

"I told Mrs. -McCandless that I would take the fault for it," Tommy Clay said during the TV interview. "I didn't want her ending up losing her job, you know; I figured I had a lot less to lose than she did."

Her arrest affidavit alleges that Carrie McCandless initially lied to school board President David Mundy, telling him that during the field trip Tommy Clay had made advances but she rebuffed him.

Mundy then called the boy and his parents to his office and asked Tommy to leave the school, the Clay family said.

"We met that day with Mr. Mundy, and he just continued to say, 'We need to take Tommy out. I have to protect a friendship here,' " Sheree Clay said. "(Mundy) was good friends with the teacher and her husband. 'I need to save a marriage.' It was things like that. He made Tommy feel very, very guilty."

A local television reporter called police later that week to check out a tip from someone outside the Clay family who said McCandless sexually assaulted the boy.

McCandless was fired soon after, and Tommy Clay stayed out of school for a month.

Mundy, 53, later resigned and was charged with failing to report the incident and tampering with witnesses.

His jury trial is set for July 23.

The Clay family contends Mundy is guilty of looking the other way and unconsciously adhering to a double standard about how to treat boys who get involved with their teachers compared with girls, the boy's lawyer, Gary Fielder, said after the interview.

But Mundy's lawyer, David Kaplan, said none of that adds up to a crime.

"I believe when all the facts are known, they will demonstrate that Mr. Mundy acted appropriately," Kaplan said.

Tommy Clay returned to school for two weeks in the fall but said it was too difficult to continue. Now he is unsure how he will graduate.

At first, "It was all, you know, high-fives and stuff like that," he said. But as time went on, "I lost a lot of the friends that I had at that school."

Tommy Clay said he understands that -McCandless was wrong to allow their romantic relationship to develop. But he also remains sympathetic to her, Fielder said, adding that the boy "certainly doesn't want to see her go to jail."

bargec@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5059