A former West Virginia teacher charged with the sexual abuse of a 14-year-old high school student, 14 years after she is alleged to have first groomed him and had sex with him, is now claiming that she was the one mistreated.

Elizabeth Harbert, now 43, allowed Bridge Street Middle School student Christopher Birch to leave his grandmother's residence aged 13 and move in with her and her then-husband in 2005.

Birch claims their first sexual encounter occurred when she was 30 and he was 14 and that Harbert told him to think of her as '70 percent mom and 30 percent girlfriend'.

Elizabeth Harbert, 43, was arrested Wednesday on sexual assault charges dating back 14 years. Harbert faces sexual assault charges and is currently out of jail on $10,000 bond

There is no statute of limitations for statutory rape in the state, where minors must be under the age of 16 and at least four years younger than the defendant.

Harbert got divorced in 2006. By 2007, when Birch was still just 16 and still attending Wheeling Park High School where she worked, the teacher was pregnant with his child, a civil lawsuit filed April 4, states. They would go onto have four children together.

A paternity test states there is a 99.99 percent chance he is the father of the eldest child.

Birch is suing the mother of his children, the Ohio County Board of Education and former Wheeling Park principal and current Ohio County Board of Education member Christine Carder, claiming they were aware of abuse from the parent/guardian figure.

The defendants are charged on 11 counts including accusations of fraudulent concealment, sexual assault and harassment at school and school-related events, wrongful birth, failure to report sexual crimes, and causing emotional distress.

Chris Birch graduated Wheeling Park High School in 2009 and Current Ohio County Schools Superintendent Kim Miller notified West Virginia State Police about the abuse allegations on January 28. The civil lawsuit was filed April 4

Birch claims they conspired to cover-up the abuse by failing to report it to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.

He claims he tried to leave Harbert 30 times and by filing the lawsuit finally found a way out without losing his children.

A lawsuit states Birch moved back in with his grandmother after the first child – referred to in the lawsuit as B.H. – was born. Birch claims the sexual relationship continued at his grandmother's home when she wasn't present.

Birch graduated in 2009. Current Ohio County Schools Superintendent Kim Miller notified West Virginia State Police about the abuse allegations on January 28.

The civil lawsuit was filed April 4.

But Harbert's attorney claimed Birch was spreading 'salacious lies' about what happened while he was living with her and her track coach husband. Pictured is Harbert's Moundsville home

Harbert's attorney said her lawsuit was a response to Birch spreading 'salacious lies' about her.

Lawyer Mark Kepple said: 'The allegations of wrongdoing and inappropriate conduct are denied. Ms. Harbert challenges any and all allegations which suggest she consented to a relationship with Mr. Birch when he was a student in the Ohio County School System.

'Mr. Birch's actions and his lawsuit represent a disgusting new low in the history of American Jurisprudence. This lawsuit is nothing more than a money grab and an underhanded attempt to separate a mother from her children.

'We are confident that the civil justice system will expose the decade-plus history of the physical and emotional abuse she suffered at the hands of Birch and vindicate her fully.'

Birch's lawyers Teresa Toriseva and Shari McPhail filed a criminal lawsuit on Wednesday.

Harbert was arrested the same day on the sexual assault charges and later released on $10,000 bond.