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Sarah Fowlkes with her husband in a Facebook Picture facebook.com/sarah.e.madden.3

A 27-year-old married science teacher from Texas is in the news for smiling at her mugshot photo after she was arrested for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a teenage male student. Sarah Madden Fowlkes grinned ear-to-ear for her mugshot photo taken after she herself came to the police station to get arrested following her birthday celebrations with her husband.

If convicted, Fowlkes, who worked at Lockhart High School in Arlington, faces up to 20 years in prison. The school also suspended Fowlkes from her job as a biology teacher on March 10 after she was charged with “engaging in an improper relationship between an educator and student,” news.com.au reports.

Fowlkes' lawyer Jason Nassour told KXAS-TV that the reason she is smiling in the mugshot is because chances are that she will come out of this situation. “You’ve got a young lady who was arrested on the statement of a 17-year-old kid with no corroborating evidence. This isn’t a guilty person sitting there like they just got caught.”

However, school authorities seem to disagree with the lawyer. Susan Bohn, school superintendent, issued a statement to the parents after Fowlkes' arrest. She promised strict action for the teacher. “Lockhart parents entrust their children to us every day, and it is something we do not take lightly. Student safety is the district’s most important priority."

“As soon as we learned of the report, we acted swiftly to involve law enforcement and CPS to conduct a thorough investigation. The district does not and will not tolerate any improper communication or contact between a teacher and child. Fowlkes will not return to the school district,” Bohn added.

Police authorities also found an exchange of sexual text messages between Fowlkes and her 17-year-old male student. Though the age of sexual consent in Texas is 17, the law forbids teachers to have any sexual contacts with their pupils. Fowlkes was released on bail after her arrest.

According to Lockhart Police Department Fowlkes engaged in “sexual content with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of the student.” During the investigation, the student confessed that Fowlkes touched his genitals and in return, he “made contact with the defendant’s breasts, with the intent to arouse of gratify the sexual desire of the defendant,” the police documents allege. She has been working as a teacher in the school since October 2014.