A teacher and coach at a Mobile County private school was arrested for allegedly having a sexual relationship with his 16-year-old student, authorities said Tuesday.

Mobile County sheriff’s deputies received a call Monday night from the parent of a 16-year-old girl about a possible sexual incident involving a teacher at a local private school, said Lt. Mark Bailey.

Deputies then spoke to the girl and her parents when the girl disclosed “she was currently in a sexual relationship with a teacher at her school,” Bailey said.

The lieutenant did not disclose the school because authorities were giving the principal time to notify students about the incident, but Fox 10 identified the teacher as Jonathan Sauers of Faith Academy in Mobile. Mobile County jail records did not show Sauers’ arrest.

On Monday night, the girl drove to the Semmes Walmart to meet her teacher. The teacher then picked her up and drove not too far from where her vehicle was located, Bailey said.

They then engaged in sexual acts before the girl walked back to her vehicle, according to Bailey.

The girl had been away from her parents for about an hour to 1 1/2 hours.

“Her parents became concerned for her safety that she wasn’t back home by now. She told them she was going to Walmart to pickup school supplies,” Bailey said. “They went out, they found her car. Did not find their daughter in the car.”

The parents then went to the sheriff’s office to file a missing person’s report and deputies began searching for the girl.

They found her walking on Moffett Road, said Bailey.

Deputies brought her back to the Walmart when the girl disclosed the sexual relationship with her teacher.

Bailey said the teacher did not have a prior criminal history.

“Other than this, you would think that he is the model teacher,” he said, adding that the relationship was going on for several months. “He is a teacher and a coach.”

The teacher was charged with school employee engaging in a sex act with a student under 19 and school employee engaging in sexual contact with a student under 19 — both felonies. He faces between 10 to 20 years in prison on each count if convicted.

Bailey lamented that laws are needed to prevent inappropriate relationships between teachers and their students.

“This is a very heinous crime,” he said. “We have these statutes in place in Alabama … it’s a shame we have to have statutes like this … to protect our children.”