PITTSBURGH – An elementary music teacher has been placed on leave after he was arrested and charged with multiple counts of sexually abusing a relative.

Walter Street, 59, a teacher at Avonworth Elementary school, was arrested last Friday and is being held on $200,000 bond, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Street taught elementary music and served as the director of the marching band. Previously, he served as the band teacher for the high school and middle school.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

The female victim, an alleged relative of Street, first came forward to a religious leader in 2009 when she was concerned that she might be pregnant with the teacher’s child, according to the news report.

The police were quickly contacted and the victim claimed that the abuse started when she was 10 and occurred on and off for several years. However, no charges were filed at that time because the young woman recanted her statements during a subsequent interview.

Last month, the school district’s IT department found an incriminating document on Street’s school-owned laptop. The department reported this to District Superintendent Thomas Ralston, who conducted an immediate exam of the computer and allegedly found evidence of an inappropriate relationship with the relative.

The document was reportedly a letter from the teacher addressed to the young female. The story reports this letter contained phrases such as, “Letting my feelings show for someone that society says is a no-no,” and, “I will try to keep my emotions and hands to myself.”

After the letter was turned over to police, the authorities reached out to the victim and asked if the original allegations were true. She told them they were.

Street has since been charged with rape, statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault and other crimes.

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

The situation has understandingly made the parents of Avonworth uneasy. Many of them plan to take their concerns to the school board during the scheduled board meeting tonight.

“I’m really upset about this issue,” said Rebecca Stetser, the mother of three children in the district, to the Tribune-Review. “What we’re asking for is a complete accounting of how this was handled.”

When asked about parents attending the meeting, District spokeswoman Dana Hackley told the Tribune-Review, “They (school board meetings) are an open forum, and parents are encouraged to voice their opinion. There probably are some difficult questions that we won’t be able to answer, but the children and their safety are our No. 1 priority.”

Other parents are just relieved that Street is no longer teaching their children.

“He was too friendly with the girls,” parent Susan Panizzi told WTAE news. “I actually cautioned my daughter. I have a fourth grader. I cautioned my daughter a few years ago and said, ‘be kind to him, but he hugged too many of the students.’”

Street is scheduled for a preliminary hearing next Thursday.