SALINEVILLE, Ohio - A 26-year old East Liverpool woman has been placed on paid leave from her job as a science teacher at Southern Local Schools while a criminal case against her plays out more than one-thousand miles away.

According to the Finney County Sherrif Office, Katie Rufener is accused of having unlawful sexual relations with one of her 18-year-old high school students in Holcomb, Kansas this past spring.

Although investigators say that the alleged sexual relations between Rufener and the student were consensual, courts have upheld a Kansas law making it illegal for a teacher to have a sexual relationship with a student, even if that student is an adult.

School Superintendent John Wilson tells 21 News that Rufener's future as an employee at Southern Local depends on the outcome of the investigation in Kansas.

She was placed on administrative leave from Southern Local on October 1st, which was the same day she appeared in a Kansas courtroom to answer three felony counts.

According to the Sheriff, Rufener is accused of having relations with the student on three separate occasions in March and April.

Rufener is free on $20,000 bond and faces another court hearing in December.

According to her biography on the Southern Local School website, Rufener is a 2007 graduate of Badger High School in Kinsman and a 2011 magna cum laude graduate from Thiel College.

She was a teacher in Kansas from 2012 until her resignation from Holcomb High School earlier this year.