MEDFORD, MA – The state appeals court has upheld the child rape conviction of a former Medford school counselor. Jenna Tarabelsi was convicted of two counts of child rape stemming from the sexual assault of a 15-year-old student in 2014.

Tarabelsi, who worked as a career counselor at Medford Vocational Technical High School from 2013-2015, befriended the 15-year-old boy when he sought advice about problems he was having with his then-girlfriend, according to court documents.

After communicating with the boy for about a month, Tarabelsi sexually assaulted him in a parking lot in Stoneham after school ended in January 2014, prosecutors said. The school suspended her after the allegations came to light in April 2015.