The Richmond County Sheriff's Office is investigating a former Butler High School teacher and band director following allegations that he had a four-month sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student.

The mother of the student told police that her daughter had sex with Anthony Shelton up to eight times a week in the school's band room, according to a sheriff's incident report.

The student told her mother that Mr. Shelton stored condoms in his desk, and would often remove her from classes to have sex with him, the report stated.

Mr. Shelton resigned in March amid an internal affairs investigation by the Richmond County school system into allegations of improper interactions with students.

Richmond County Superintendent Dana Bedden held a news conference at 1 p.m., to say that the latest allegations surfaced Thursday when the girl's mother spoke with school board police. The information was then immediately turned over to the sheriff's office because Mr. Shelton no longer works for the school system.

When contacted by The Augusta Chronicle at noon, Mr. Shelton said he wasn't aware of any investigation by the sheriff's office or any allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a student. He denied any wrongdoing, adding that students had a vendetta against him for removing one of them from the flag line.

Mr. Shelton had not been charged with a crime as of 1 p.m.

Reach Greg Gelpi at 706-828-3851 or greg.gelpi@augustachronicle.com