This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

ST.CHARLES, Mo. – A former teacher at Francis Howell North High School was charged Tuesday morning with reportedly having sexual relations with a female student.

According to police, Matthew Howard of St. Charles is facing three counts of having sexual contact with a student. Howard, 29, turned himself in at the St. Charles County Jail that afternoon.

Investigators said Howard was teaching at the high school last December when he had a sexual encounter with a 17-year-old student at a residence in the 1000 block of South 6th Street in St. Charles.

Court documents reveal the student told authorities that Howard had been her homeroom teacher but was not one of her teachers when the alleged episode happened. The student also said in court documents that there was just one encounter.

St. Charles County Prosecutor Tim Lohmar said even though the student was of legal age at the time of the episode, the encounter is still illegal.

“What makes this a crime is the fact that she was a current student and he was a current teacher when this sexual encounter took place,” Lohmar said.

Lohmar said it came to light when the student told a friend who then told her mother. That parent then went to school administrators.

Chip Crow, a teacher at Francis Howell North, said he knew Howard but said he never noticed anything suspicious.

“It’s really unfortunate because education is a student-teacher bond and it seems as though there was a crossing of that line if you will,” Crow said.

The Francis Howell School District released the following statement Tuesday morning: