A gym teacher at a North Dakota middle school is accused of having a sex with a teenage boy.
Susan Duursma, 34, was charged Monday with three counts of corrupting or soliciting a minor. According to The Bismarck Tribune, Duursma was arrested Friday and is accused of having sex with 15-year-old boy at her home and in a car three times between March and July.
School district superintendent Tamara Uselman forwarded a complaint about Duursma to police last week.
"It's just a tragedy all around, is what I would say," Uselman told the Associated Press.
On Tuesday, the Bismarck School Board unanimously voted to suspend Duursma without pay, the Bismarck Tribune reported. The board ultimately intends to discharge the teacher, who had taught at Wachter Middle School for the past six years, according to the newspaper.
Duursma's attorney, Tom Dickson, told the AP in a separate report that his client will plead not guilty.
"There's always two sides to every story. Sometimes these situations are a little more complicated than they might appear initially," Dickson told the AP. "Susan will get her opportunity to explain her side of what happened."
If convicted, Duursma will have to register as a sex offender, and could face up to 15 years in prison.
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