Three blocks from where she taught, a 28-year-old special education teacher allegedly had sex with a 15-year-old junior high school student and paid him $1,400 afterward, according to court documents filed this week.

Melissa Andreini, a teacher of three years at Helper Junior High School, was charged in 7th District Court with three counts of sexual abuse of a minor, a third-degree felony.

The victim, who was not Andreini's student, told investigators he had sex with the teacher three times at her home near the school.

According to the court documents, Andreini often brought coffee before the school day and gave it to the victim and his friends in her classroom.

The boy's mother said Andreini admitted she had a sexual relationship with her son when she confronted the teacher at her home in early July. Andreini also confirmed she paid him afterward, the documents said.

Andreini, who submitted her letter of resignation Aug. 3, is not the only teacher at Helper Junior High School being investigated in sexual misconduct.

A spokesman for Carbon School District confirmed that a second teacher was placed on administrative leave sometime before the start of the school year Monday pending an investigation into inappropriate relations with a student.

"Right now there's just allegations in the hands of the county attorney. No charges have been filed," district spokesman Robert Cox said.

Cox said the cases were not permeating discussions on campus, which opened for its school year on Monday.

"I sat in a teacher's conference and we did not talk about the allegations. We simply spoke about moving forward and not letting this drag them down," he said.

"We regret that this would happen in our district or any other. It is our main intent to keep students safe."

e-mail: mgonda@desnews.com