A 26-year-old Fort Walton Beach woman has been sentenced to six years in prison for having sex with a teen she later adopted.

Lauren Michelle Myres, a former employee of the Family First Network, was sentenced Thursday, according to a press release from the First Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office.

The charges arose in May 2018 when law enforcement received a crime stopper tip alleging an inappropriate relationship between Myres and the 17-year-old victim.

Myres was the caseworker originally assigned to the child. She eventually decided to foster the boy and ultimately adopted him. After the adoption was finalized it was discovered that Myres had been having sex with him.

Myers admitted to the sexual relationship, stating it happened “seven to eight times” between March 26 and May 30, her arrest report from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said. She and the boy had sex at Myres' homes on Kruse Drive and Pocahontas Drive, both in Fort Walton Beach.

“I can’t say I’ve ever seen a case like this where an adoption occurred and sex occurred shortly thereafter,” said Florida State Attorney Bill Bishop Thursday. “There have been cases of older women having sex with young boys across the country, but this is the first I’ve ever seen.”

Myres had previously entered a plea of no contest to the charge on Dec. 11. She was also designated a sexual offender as a result of her conviction and will have to register as such for the rest of her life.

Upon her release from prison, she will be placed on sex offender probation for four years and have to complete sex offender counseling. She also can have no contact with the victim or any minors.

“Our office recommended a sentence of eight years followed by probation,” Bishop said. “Ultimately, it was up to the court and that was the sentencing imposed by Judge Jeff Brown. I think based on the facts and circumstances, it was an appropriate sentencing.”

Following the arrest, the boy told deputies he did not believe his sex with Myres was wrong because “he was not being raped and was about to be 18.”

Myres, who in 2015 earned a degree in criminal justice from the University of West Florida, had been employed by the Families First Network for about two-and-a-half years, according to a June statement from Tish Pennewill, a spokeswoman for the Lakeview Center of Baptist Hospital, which oversees the Families First Network.

Pennewill did say there were “no red flags” from Myres that indicated unexpected behavior.

“We have a culture that dictates rigorous requirements for having good people, people with the heart to do the type of service we do,” Pennewill said to the Daily News in June.

Myres was fired immediately after Families First Network officials learned of her arrest, she added. Her access to company buildings and equipment was removed.

Myres had been divorced from her husband for nine days when she was arrested. The couple sought dissolution of the marriage in April.