Missouri teacher charged with sexual contact with student

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - A southwest Missouri teacher has been charged with having sexual contact with a student.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that 30-year-old Elizabeth Ashley Morgan, of Lebanon, has been released on $5,000 bond after the charges were filed Friday. Morgan, who previously went by the last name King, pleaded not guilty.

The Lebanon Police Department began to investigate after someone alleged during a hotline call to the state’s Children’s Division that Morgan was engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a male student. The arrest warrant said there was probable cause to charge Morgan with sexual contact with a male student in mid-November.

The Lebanon R-III School District said in a statement that the superintendent suspended an employee “based on allegations of misconduct.”

If convicted, Morgan faces up to four years in prison.

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Information from: Springfield News-Leader, http://www.news-leader.com