A former English teacher at a high school less than 30 miles south of Pittsburgh was sentenced late last week to seven years of probation for sending sexually charged text messages to students.

The 30-year-old former teacher pleaded guilty in late summer to corruption of minors, criminal use of a communications device, unlawful restraint and indecent assault.

The woman taught 10th grade English at Monessen High School.

She must serve a year of house arrest while connected to an electronic monitoring device as part of her plea agreement.

For the next decade, she must also register with the state police as a sex offender under conditions of Megan's Law.

Prosecutors claimed the former educator sent sexually explicit messages to three female students between September of 2009 and the end of March of 2010.

They said her messages were about sexual matters and her attraction to a student.

One of the students allegedly told police she engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with the teacher, including kissing.

Police began investigating the woman after the mother of one of the students claimed she found on her daughter's cell phone text messages from the teacher containing sexual content.

The married woman had been employed by the Monessen school district for six years, according to media reports.

One of the girls alleged that she'd had a relationship that included physical contact with the woman in locked classrooms.

A defense attorney for the woman said the former teacher admitted to improper contact with students, but denied ever forcing sex on them.

"The charges she pleaded guilty to indicate there was no force used," the attorney told a media source.

The teacher was fired from her job and voluntarily relinquished her teaching certificate.

Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Former Monessen teacher sentenced in student sexting case," Rich Cholodofsky, Jan. 7, 2011