A former teacher at a Mississippi coast high school said he thought he was going to elope with a 17-year-old student before his arrest for sexual battery, according to court testimony reported by the Biloxi Sun-Herald.

James Donald Hawkins II, was arrested last Thursday and charged with sexual battery after the student and her parents made allegations of the inappropriate relationship to local police on Nov. 30.

During interviews with investigators, the 38-year-old Hawkins said he and the 17-year-old had sex multiple times over the course of a month, including in her car in a Walmart parking lot and in the Ocean Springs (Miss.) home he shared with his wife and young child, according to the report.

The student told investigators the relationship with Hawkins began after she became upset at school and Hawkins “moved in to comfort her.”

Despite having a wife and child, Hawkins said, he said he and girl were planning to elope to Louisiana. He had said in a previous court appearance he didn’t think he was doing anything illegal with the girl, the report said.

Hawkins was initially denied bond, but during Tuesday’s hearing Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Calvin Taylor set bond at $150,000, with conditions that Hawkins stay away from the teenager and her family.

Hawkins had been a physics teacher at Ocean Springs High School for more than a year. He was terminated by the Ocean Springs School District immediately following his arrest.