KING

Deene Stuart Juncker appears in a King County courtroom on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008. Juncker is charged with having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student at the school where he taught.

SEATTLE – A Bellevue private girls school teacher now charged for an alleged sexual relationship he had with a 16-year-old student.

Deene Stuart Juncker is charged with three counts of first-degree Sexual Misconduct with a Minor. If convicted, he faces up to four-and-a-half years in prison.

Juncker, 47, had been teaching digital media and running the yearbook at Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart.

According to court documents, Juncker last month admitted to the head of the school that his relationship with the student had gone beyond what a normal teacher-student relationship should be. He didn’t mention sexual contact at that time, but said they had shared hugs and kisses.

When given a choice of being fired or resigning, Juncker resigned.

Court documents say school staff checked Juncker's school computers and found pictures of naked girls and women.

The documents also say the girl’s mother, who had gotten suspicious in recent months, accessed her daughter's G-mail account and found references to a tryst in the Westin Hotel in Bellevue. She found an e-mail conversation in which the teacher told the student he “loved having the chance to truly make love to you the way I have always wanted” and “my mind has wandered to room 1717 of the Westin.”

A Forest Ridge spokesperson says Juncker had a background check and performance reviews.

Juncker will be arraigned on December 4.

The following is from the Washington State Legislature Web site, defining Sexual Misconduct with a Minor in the First Degree:

RCW 9A.44.093

(1) A person is guilty of sexual misconduct with a minor in the first degree when: (a) The person has, or knowingly causes another person under the age of eighteen to have, sexual intercourse with another person who is at least sixteen years old but less than eighteen years old and not married to the perpetrator, if the perpetrator is at least sixty months older than the victim, is in a significant relationship to the victim, and abuses a supervisory position within that relationship in order to engage in or cause another person under the age of eighteen to engage in sexual intercourse with the victim; (b) the person is a school employee who has, or knowingly causes another person under the age of eighteen to have, sexual intercourse with a registered student of the school who is at least sixteen years old and not married to the employee, if the employee is at least sixty months older than the student; or (c) the person is a foster parent who has, or knowingly causes another person under the age of eighteen to have, sexual intercourse with his or her foster child who is at least sixteen.

(2) Sexual misconduct with a minor in the first degree is a class C felony.

(3) For the purposes of this section, "school employee" means an employee of a common school defined in RCW 28A.150.020, or a grade kindergarten through twelve employee of a private school under chapter  28A.195 RCW, who is not enrolled as a student of the common school or private school.