SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – An Arkansas middle school teacher was put on paid leave after she allegedly raped a 13-year-old student and sent him sexually explicit messages.

Siloam Springs Intermediate School sixth grade teacher Mary Faith McCormick, 32, came under investigation Aug. 8 for allegedly having sex with the teen at her apartment and exchanging dirty pictures between June and August, 5NewsOnline reports.

“A probable cause affidavit states the two had consensual sex at least twice. The encounters began after a friend dared the 13-year-old to contact McCormick, the affidavit states. In one instance, the boy and a friend went over to the teacher’s apartment to watch a movie. The friend left, but the 13-year-old stayed and later had sex with the teacher in her bedroom, the affidavit states,” according to the news site.

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The two also allegedly exchanges pictures of their genitalia through the messaging service Snap Chat, and the images were discovered by a 12-year-old female friend of the victim. In one photo, McCormick sent an image of herself with wet hair while exposing her breasts with the caption “I’m not dirty anymore,” according to court records.

“Police said they searched McCormick’s Snap Chat account and found multiple photographs and videos of the victim, along with a photograph of a woman’s breasts believed to belong to McCormick,” 5NewsOnline reports.

Authorities confiscated two USB thumb drives, and Apple iPad, two Apple iPhones and a desktop computer as part of the ongoing investigation. The teacher was arrested by police Wednesday and was booked into the Benton County Jail. She’s charged with felony rape, according to NWAHomepage.com.

The case is the most recent in an epidemic of educators sexually abusing students in schools across the country. Since the beginning of this year, more than 275 teachers have been arrested for inappropriate sexual relationships with children, more than one per day.

Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey and others have sponsored legislation to require more stringent background checks for all school employees, but the measure has met criticism from the nation’s two largest teachers unions, which hold considerable clout in Congress.

As a result, the bill has languished in committee while wayward educators continue to prey on vulnerable students and young children.

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“My bipartisan bill requires any state receiving federal funds to perform background checks on all employees and contractors – new hires and existing employees – who have access to children,” Toomey told the Daily Item.

“The background checks must be repeated regularly, to prevent anyone from slipping through the cracks. And my bill would ban the horrifying practice of passing the trash – letting a child predator quietly resign and move along to a new school.”