A high school math teacher at Newman School was arrested on charges of carnal knowledge of a juvenile Monday, according to the Kenner Police and a notice sent home from the school.

Kenner Police spokesman Shaun Watson said that Michael Lyons, 36, an upper school math teacher at Newman, was arrested after a 16-year-old girl told police she'd had sexual relations with him several times over the past few months in Kenner.

T.J. Locke, the head of the school, said in the letter to parents that the offense did not involve a Newman student.

A spokeswoman at the school said that Lyons had been on staff since the beginning of the current school year.

Lyons had been the girl's former teacher and was serving as her tutor, according to Watson, who said that Lyons had provided the girl with a cell phone so the two could keep in contact and to conceal the relationship from the girl's parents.

Lyons was charged with 5 counts of Felony Carnal Knowledge of a Juvenile. If convicted on each count, he faces a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison.   

Locke's statement said that Lyons, like all Newman employees, Lyons had been subjected to a criminal background check. He said that authorities told him that Lyons had no previous criminal record.