NATCHEZ — A former Adams County Christian School teacher was indicted by a grand jury on accusations she maintained an inappropriate relationship with a teenage female student.

Stephanie L. Adams, 39, was charged in August with touching a child for lustful purposes.

An Adams County grand jury returned an indictment last week on the same charge.

The indictment alleges the relationship occurred between January and May 2014.

The indictment stated Adams occupied a position of trust or authority as a teacher at the school the child attended, and that the act was committed “for the purpose of gratifying her lust.”

An investigation into the matter began when the 17-year-old student’s parents allegedly read an exchange of text messages between their child and Adams, police said at the time.

Adams was fired in May after school leaders found out about the incident.

Natchez attorney Tim Cotton, who is representing Adams, said the former schoolteacher would appear before the court this morning for an arraignment hearing.

Adams was booked into the Adams County Sheriff’s Office Monday on the grand jury indictment and was released on a $25,000 bond.

Cotton said he and his client would appear in court today for the arraignment, where the attorney will be provided with evidence from the state that has not yet been turned over.

“We’ll take a look to see what the state has and look at all of our options to determine what she’s up against,” Cotton said. “This is one step closer to getting closure for all parties involved, but we’re still not at that point yet.”

Cotton said Adams would likely be set for a trial in March during the arraignment, said until he sees the evidence he could not comment on whether he believed the case would go before a jury.

“There’s still a lot of hurt on both sides of this case right now,” Cotton said. “We need to see all the options and see what the best thing to do is.”

Adams has since been removed from the faculty listing on ACCS’ website, but at one time was listed as a first-grade teacher.