KINGSPORT, Tenn. - A one-time assistant band director at an eastern Tennessee school faces more than a dozen counts of statutory rape by an authority figure after officials say he had a sexual relationship with a student.

The Johnson City Press reported that a Sullivan County grand jury indicted 23-year-old Ethan J. Tate of Johnson City last week and police arrested him Thursday.

Kingsport police say Tate, then working at Sullivan South High School in Kingsport, began a sexual relationship with a student when she was 16 years old. Between September of 2013 and February of 2014, Tate allegedly had at least 13 sexual encounters with the girl.

Tate has since been relieved of his school duties.

Court records did not list an attorney for Tate.