KING

Dawn Welter, 38, a high school teacher in the Tenino School District, is accused of having an illicit relationship with a 16-year-old female student.

TENINO, Wash. - A female high school teacher accused of inappropriate contact with a 16-year-old female student has been charged in Pacific County.

Dawn Marie Welter, 38, of Sumner, was charged Tuesday with second-degree sexual misconduct with a minor for allegedly spending the night with the girl at a motel. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Charging papers filed in North District Court state that on Feb. 17, Welter engaged in sexual contact with the teen.

The girl told a sheriff's deputy that they traveled to Portland and then up the coast to stay the night at a motel on U.S. Highway 101 in South Bend, authorities said.

Welter, on paid administrative leave from the Tenino School District, is also charged in Lewis County District Court with three counts of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.

Lewis County sheriff's detectives searched Welter's e-mail accounts and found that on at least three separate occasions - Feb. 14, 21 and 22 - she used a Tenino High School computer to send e-mails to the girl, who lives in Chehalis.