A senior at Georgia’s Duluth High School has been suspended for a year after hugging one of his teachers.

A school hearing officer said 17-year-old Sam McNair violated Gwinnett County Public Schools’ rules on sexual harassment, CBS Atlanta reports.

Surveillance video shows McNair entering a room, coming up behind the teacher, wrapping his arms around her and tucking his head onto her shoulder. The teacher claimed McNair’s lips touched her, but McNair denies any such contact and the allegations of sexual harassment.

“Something so innocent can be perceived as something totally opposite,” he told CBS Atlanta.

The teacher also says she had warned McNair that hugs are inappropriate, but he disputes that and says he often hugs his teachers and hadn’t been disciplined for it in the past. McNair faces a yearlong suspension and will not graduate on time.

[CBS Atlanta]