NATCHEZ — A former Adams County Christian School teacher was arrested Monday after she allegedly had an inappropriate relationship with a teenage female student.

Stephanie L. Adams, 39, 7096 Guedon Road, was charged with touching a child for lustful purposes.

Natchez Police Detective Jerry Ford said the investigation began when the 17-year-old student’s parents allegedly read an exchange of text messages between their child and Adams.

“We interviewed the student, talked to some other witnesses and confirmed that the teacher and the student had been involved in a dating relationship,” Ford said. “Apparently, the teacher had been involved in some inappropriate misconduct with the student.”

Ford said Adams has since been fired from ACCS.

Adams was listed on the school’s website Tuesday as a first-grade teacher who received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Alcorn State University.

ACCS Headmaster David King declined to discuss specific details about the incident but said school leaders found out about the incident in May and “swiftly removed” Adams from her position.

“All of us at Adams County Christian School are saddened by this devastating situation,” King said. “We were very proactive when the incident was reported to us, and we’ve completely complied with authorities throughout this investigation.”

King said school members would continue working with law enforcement officials to be as transparent and proactive as possible.

“This is very unfortunate, but ACCS did everything that was required of us, and we handled this thing the best we could,” King said. “We’re just devastated this happened at our wonderful school.”

Adams listed Natchez attorney Tim Cotton as her legal counsel, with a preliminary hearing set for Aug. 13.

Her bond was set at $25,000 Monday.