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Zionsville teacher accused of 'sexting' student

Posted at 4:34 PM, Apr 21, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-22 17:10:06-04

ZIONSVILLE, Ind. -- An orchestra teacher at Zionsville West Middle School has been arrested on charges of having a "sexting" relationship with a student.

The student reportedly told police she and 33-year-old Michael Plewa had exchanged sexual text messages while she was attending the middle school.

At the time Plewa was an orchestra teacher at the school. He has since resigned.

Boone County Sheriff's deputies arrested Plewa on Thursday on four counts of child seduction.

Plewa's arrest comes two days after a Daleville Schools custodian was arrested on child seduction charges for an alleged relationship with a 14-year-old female student.

The same day, the Mt. Vernon School Board voted to fire a teacher's aide accused of having sexual relationships with six current and former students.

ALSO READ | CALL 6: IPS counselor arrested on child seduction charges | Why did Mt. Vernon wait 17 days to report alleged abuse?

Plewa becomes at least the 11th teacher, educator or school employee in Indiana to be accused of sexual misconduct with a minor since 2015 – an issue Boone County Prosecutor Todd Meyer addressed in the announcement of Plewa's arrest.

GALLERY | Click the image below to see all of the Indiana educators/school employees accused of misconduct with minors since 2015.

“This case comes at a time when my office is seeing more and more of this type of communication between adults and children, which is disturbing and very concerning," Meyer said in a statement Thursday. "The relationships children have with their teachers, coaches and other adult youth group leaders is developed and built around trust and unfortunately some adults who work with youth choose to violate this position of trust for their own self-gratification. Parents need to pay close attention to the types of electronic communication their children have with others via their smartphones, tablets, etc. and if they suspect anything inappropriate they should report it to law enforcement immediately.”

School social media policies have been scrutinized in the wake of several recent arrests involving employee misconduct with students. Read more about Call 6 Investigator Kara Kenney's reporting on the issue here.

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