AUSTIN, Texas – Police arrested Hutto High School football coach and science teacher Jake Fenske Friday for sexual contact with a 16-year-old female student on and off campus.

The girl’s father alerted authorities after he discovered inappropriate messages between the 26-year-old and his daughter in texts and through the smartphone app Snapchat. One of the girl’s friends also confirmed the romantic relationship, according to an arrest affidavit cited by The Hutto News.

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Investigators quested the teen victim and she told police the two began dating in March. Fenske told police the two were “in love” and had sex numerous times at his apartment, his truck and a classroom at Hutto High School.

Police arrested Fenske Friday and charged him with a third-degree felony for improper relationship between educator and student, a crime punishable by up to a decade in prison.

A Hutto Independent School District spokesman told KVUE that Fenske, a former Tarleton State quarterback hired in 2014 as a football coach, was placed on administrative leave with pay pending the results of the criminal investigation.

Hutto ISD issued a prepared statement about Fenske’s arrest on Friday.

“Hutto ISD is cooperating fully with the Hutto Police Department in its investigation of an HISD staff member. Hutto ISD’s HR department is awaiting clearance from Hutto PD to resume its own investigation so as not to interfere with the work of Hutto PD,” the statement read, according to the Austin American Statesman.

“Child Protective Services and the State Board for Educator Certification have been notified. … If any wrong doing is discovered, Hutto ISD will hold staff accountable to the fullest extent possible.”

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Fenske was booked into the Williamson County Jail on Friday and later released when he posted a $20,000 bail, according to The Hutto News.

The case is at least the second to make national headlines in the last week, following reports that 24-year-old Houston-area teacher Alexandria Vera became pregnant with a then 13-year-old former student before aborting the baby, EAGnews reports.

The relationship was allegedly supported by the student’s family, who were reportedly “very supportive and excited” about the baby, but Vera told police she opted to abort the pregnancy when Child Protective Services showed up at her school – Stovall Middle School – to investigate sex abuse allegations in February.

The teacher sex abuse cases are among hundreds each year in school districts across the country, and the problem is growing quickly in Texas.

The Texas Education Agency reports it has launched 162 investigations of inappropriate teacher-student relationships between Sept. 1 and May 31.

“The agency reported 188 investigations for last fiscal year, at least the fifth straight year of growth,” according to the Amarillo Globe-News reports.

Texas lawmakers held a hearing on the rising student-teacher sex cases last month in the Texas House Public Education Committee, where legislators heard from experts who identified social media as the primary driver behind the trend.

“In the past you might not have had students choosing to interact socially with a teacher, now they’ll friend them on Facebook or they’ll reach out to them through Snapchat,” Kathy Tortoreo, director of crisis services at Family Support Services in Amarillo, told the Globe-News. “The adult is supposed to understand the boundary and the adult is supposed to uphold the boundary.”