A science teacher at Follansbee Middle School is being held on charges of statutory rape involving a 15-year-old female student.

Thirty-two-year-old Brad Nieman of Wellsburg was in the Northern Regional Jail on $150,000 bond Tuesday.

Brooke County Sheriff Richard Ferguson says the sheriff's office learned of the alleged assault through a deputy who is assigned to work full-time in the school district.

Nieman was arrested late Friday.

Ferguson says investigators are still trying to determine whether the sexual contact was a one-time incident or a continuing pattern.

County Schools Superintendent Mary Kay DeGarmo did not immediately return a telephone message Tuesday.

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