UPDATE: A former Cedar Rapids Washington High School teacher has been arrested after police said she was caught having sex with a student.

On Thursday, Cedar Rapids police arrested Heather Adams, 41, on a charge of sexual exploitation by a school employee. Adams was a chemistry teacher at Washington until resigning her position for personal reasons on Monday.

Sgt. Cristy Hamblin, a Cedar Rapids police spokesperson, confirmed the arrest Thursday night and gave some details of the incident. We were notified on Sunday, May 6 at 9:30 in the evening there was a suspicious vehicle over in the 300 block of 28th Street Drive SE, Hamblin said.

Hamblin said officers arrived to find Adams and an 18-year-old male in the car. Through the investigation, they found she is a teacher at Washington High School, said Sgt. Hamblin, and again, through investigation, discovered they were having sex in the vehicle.

Police say normally, this would be considered a legal sex act, because the male student is 18 years old. However, Adams status as a high school teacher makes the sexual act a crime.

I hope the public would never view it as something reflective on the high school, Hamblin said. This happens at the best high schools in the country, and the worst high schools in the country.

Hamblin also stressed that the incident did not take place on school property.The charge is a misdemeanor, but if convicted, Adams would be listed on the Iowa sex offender registry for 10 years.