Sturgis teacher arrested on criminal sexual conduct charges

A 37-year-old teacher at Sturgis High School is on paid administrative leave pending a police investigation into allegations of criminal sexual conduct.
The teacher was arrested Monday after a police investigation showed he allegedly had a sexual relationship with a student. A day later, St. Joseph County Prosecutor John McDonough charged the suspect with one count of distributing or promoting child sexually abusive activity, one count of using a computer to commit a crime, one count of possession of child sexually abusive material, one count distributing sexually explicit visual or verbal matter of children and three counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a student.
The suspect remains in the county jail with bond set at $150,000.
Sturgis police said an investigation began several weeks ago when they were made aware of possible violations.
Police have interviewed several students and said allegations go back to 2011.
The suspect has been a teacher at Sturgis High School since 2004. He taught advanced science classes and was a freshman and junior varsity football coach for 10 years.