OCEAN CITY, N.J. – A longtime New Jersey vice principal who resigned abruptly last month amid a criminal investigation now faces up to 15 years in prison for allegedly snooping through the superintendent’s emails.

Police charged former Ocean City High School vice principal and athletic director Christine Lentz, 53, with official misconduct and computer criminal activity last week after a month-long investigation by the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit, the Cape May County Herald reports.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

That investigation allegedly revealed that Lentz “did access the private school email files of Superintendent Kathleen Taylor … for the purpose of obtaining confidential documents from said file to gain a benefit in ongoing school contractual negotiations,” according to court records obtained by the Press of Atlantic City through a public information request.

Prosecutor Robert Taylor would not discuss the case with the media, citing an ongoing investigation. It’s unclear whether Lentz was an official with the local teacher’s union, or other collective bargaining unit. It’s also unclear how she allegedly accessed the superintendent’s emails.

A September 2014 article on OCNJDaily.com describes last year’s contract settlement between the school district and the Ocean City Education Association, including the “continuation of the … revision and restructuring of the compensation structure and the methodology used to set the stipend amounts for the district’s athletic coaches and advisors for the district’s clubs and activities.”

Lentz worked as an employee of Ocean City schools for 30 years, and as the athletic director at Ocean City High School for seven years before turning in her resignation this year, effective July 1. Lentz’ 2014-15 salary was $123,197. It’s unclear whether the criminal charges will impact her pension or benefits.

The alleged email snooping occurred between April 1 and June 1, NJ.com reports.

Lentz coached girls basketball from 1985 to 2001, and earned the Ed Byrnes Memorial All-Sports Award for the most successful athletic program in the Cape Atlantic League for four straight years. She also once served on the Upper Township Board of Education, Shore News Today reports.

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

District officials issued a statement about the criminal charges against former educator last week.

“The Ocean City Board of Education and District Administration took immediate action upon learning about an alleged incident involving a former member of the high school administration. We have since been working with the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office, the Ocean City Police Department and special forensic investigators,” the statement read.

“Since this is an ongoing investigation, we are not at liberty to share details about the alleged incident at this time. However, our students were in no way involved or affected and immediate steps were also taken to ensure the integrity of the school district going forward. We appreciate your patience as we work closely with our external partners for a timely resolution and move forward with our 2015-2016 school plans.”

Lentz turned herself in to authorities Aug. 4, and was released on a summons.

She charged with second-degree official misconduct, a 5 to 10 year felony, and computer criminal activity in the third degree, which carries a potential 3 to 5 year prison sentence.