photo by: Alan Olson

Hundreds of new students and their families filter into Wheeling Park High School for the Freshmen & New Student Tailgate event this past August.

A former Wheeling Park High School teacher was arrested this week on charges that he had a sexual relationship with a WPHS student.

Micah Farmer, 37, of Wheeling, was arrested on one felony charge of sexual abuse of a minor 16 years or older by a parent, guardian, or custodian. According to a criminal complaint, the West Virginia State Police received a complaint from Ohio County Assistant Superintendent Rick Jones that Farmer was spending time after school hours with the victim, an underage student.

According to the complaint, Jones said Farmer was told on Dec. 15 to avoid any contact or private interaction with the victim. On Jan. 10, WPHS Principal Meredith Dailer received permission from the victim’s mother to confiscate the victim’s cell phone. Dailer and the victim reviewed the text messages the victim and Farmer allegedly sent to each other, which included sexually explicit messages.

On Jan. 11, state troopers executed a search warrant at Farmer’s home. According to the complaint, Farmer allegedly “expressed a strong desire” to talk to the trooper at his home. There, he allegedly admitted that he and the victim had sexual intercourse at his home and in his truck.

On Jan. 12, state troopers interviewed the victim, who allegedly corroborated that she and Farmer had sexual intercourse at Farmer’s house.

Farmer was arraigned and released on $5,000 bond.

This past Friday, Ohio County Schools released a statement saying a WPHS teacher was immediately relieved of his duties due to an alleged inappropriate relationships with a minor student. According to the agenda for the Ohio County Board of Education’s meeting this coming Monday, Farmer resigned from his position as a welding teacher at WPHS effective Jan. 10.