![](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/solebury-township-police-department-teacher.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
A 28-year-old teacher has been arrested and fired from her job in connection with allegations she had sex with a 16-year-old student at a Pennsylvania nature preserve earlier this year after sending him salacious social media messages.
Alyssia Reddy is accused of sexually assaulting one of her male high school students while she was employed as an English teacher at the Pennington School, a private Methodist-based college-preparatory institution in New Jersey, according to officials with the Solebury Township Police Department in Pennsylvania.
The alleged relationship between Reddy and the teen began in early December, according to a police affidavit obtained by PEOPLE. The student told investigators that’s when Reddy allegedly gave him her phone number. She later allegedly added him on Snapchat and sent him messages, including stating that she was attracted to him.
In one message, Reddy wrote, “I want your hands on me,” the affidavit alleges.
Authorities believe the relationship continued from there: The student said he was at a friend’s house one day earlier this year when Reddy allegedly “showed up unexpectedly” and took him to a nearby parking lot at a local nature preserve, where she “climbed on top” of the student and “pulled down her pants” and they had sex, according to the affidavit.
Reddy was arrested Friday on charges of institutional sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, criminal use of a communication facility and corruption of a minor, according to authorities.
Solebury police said they were alerted to the alleged relationship on Nov. 20. The affidavit states the alleged sexual assault occurred between December and May 1.
Reddy taught at Pennington from August 2013 to August 2017. She moved to Maryland this year to begin a teaching job at a school there, St. Paul’s School for Girls, police said.
She is being detained in Maryland while awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania and could not be immediately reached.
It’s unclear if she has a lawyer who could comment on her behalf.
School: ‘This News Is Deeply Disturbing’
Reddy was terminated from St. Paul’s after her arrest last week and is banned from the campus, according to school head Penny Evins. It’s unclear which subject Reddy taught at St. Paul’s.
“This news is deeply disturbing to all of us and saddens us,” Evins said in a letter to the school community, which was provided by St. Paul’s School for Girls. “Before today, we had no information suggesting any prior improper conduct by Mrs. Reddy.”
In a letter to the community of its own, the Pennington School said it reported the alleged inappropriate relationship between Reddy and the student to authorities after being “recently made aware” of it.
“The School has a strong ongoing commitment to the safety, health, and wellness of all students,” officials said in the letter.
This article originally appeared on People.com
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