Teacher Marries Student He Allegedly Spent Night With

Former Alabama math teacher Matthew Shane Wester—accused of having sexual contact with student Amy Nicole Cox—married the teen over the weekend. Wester, 37, and Cox, 18, got hitched just weeks after she graduated high school. Cox was still 17 years old when she had an inappropriate relationship with the then-married Wester, Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey tells the Huffington Post. The relationship was discovered in November, and Wester was placed on unpaid leave. He later resigned, according to AL.com. The former assistant football coach, head track coach, and algebra and geometry teacher was indicted in January, and finalized his divorce in April.

Per the indictment, Wester "intentionally and knowingly engaged with a male or female student under the age of 19 in sexual contact which was done for the purpose of gratifying the sexual desire of either party, to wit—kissing and spending the night with the victim." The pair's marriage will not halt the criminal investigation, although it may impede its progress. "Now that the legal status of their relationship has changed, we will have to look at our case to determine how we will proceed,'' Casey says, because under Alabama law spouses cannot be compelled to testify against each other. (In other teacher-turned-lover news: Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili are still married after 10 years.)