EUGENE, Ore. - A Eugene teacher accused of having sex with a middle school student is out on bail today.

Friday night, 24-year-old Sarah Jayne Bridges was arrested on charges she engaged in sexual activity with a male student.

Detectives and the Eugene 4J School District won't identify the alleged victim's name, age or school to protect his privacy.

Bridges -- a substitute teacher who taught at high schools and middle schools around the district -- was charged with rape, sodomy and sexual abuse. The charges stem from an incident police said happened in March, but only came to light this week when a district employee filed a report with the administration.

"The 4J School District received an allegation late Thursday night from an employee, alleging inappropriate sexual contact between a middle school substitute teacher and a student," Eugene Police Detective Dan Braziel said.

Braziel said the alleged activity occured off-campus.

"We conducted interviews most of the day [Friday] at several schools as well as several off-campus sites," he said. "During the course of those interviews, enough information was developed to arrest the teacher in the case."

Braziel could not say if the contact was consensual or if it happened more than once. He said police have no specific information indicating any other students were involved with Bridges.

Kelly McIver with 4J says his sympathy is with the alleged victim.

"First your thoughts are just absolute sadness, shock, sympathy for the alleged victim and family, because that can be a terrible life changing experience," he said. "It's an abuse of trust that absolutely breaks our hearts, to be honest."

Mciver said Bridges had a clean criminal record when she was hired as a substitute teacher with the district in 2006. She has taught for about 150 total days over the last two school years. The district suspended her teaching privileges, and if she is convicted she would automatically lose her license.

Bridges was being held on $190,000 bail, but today she posted the required amount to be released. There's no word as to the date of any court hearings.

Meanwhile, Braziel said he will continue to interview potential witnesses. Anyone with further information is asked to contact Braziel at 682-5836.

Here is the 4J School District press release, which was sent Friday at 9:01 p.m.:

"Substitute teacher Sarah Jayne Bridges was arrested Friday, June 6 at 7:30 p.m., at the Eugene Police Department, on charges of Rape in the Third Degree, Sodomy in the Third Degree and Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree.  She was lodged in the Lane County Jail.

A complaint was made by Eugene School District 4J to the Eugene Police Department on Friday morning alleging Bridges, 24, had sexual activity with a male student. The complaint alleged Bridges had the encounter in March of 2008, with her former student, who is currently in middle school.  The alleged activity occurred off campus.

Bridges has been a substitute teacher in the Eugene School District since September 2006. She may have substituted in other districts as well. She taught 66 days in 4J schools in 2006-07, and has taught a total of 85.5 days in 4J this school year.

The district suspended her substitute teaching privileges upon notification of the allegations Friday. After contacting police, district administrators reported the allegations to the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission, the state body responsible for issuing teaching licenses. A conviction on these charges would mean an automatic loss of teaching license.

During the 2007-08 school year, she has taught at the following 4J schools: Churchill, Sheldon, North Eugene and South Eugene high schools; Kelly, Madison, Monroe, and Roosevelt middle schools; and the K-8 Arts and Technology Academy at Jefferson. Subjects she has covered include science, language arts, French, Japanese, art, social studies, physical education, math, home economics and general elementary education."