DAYTON — Following an 8-month police investigation, a Montgomery County grand jury has indicted a 28-year-old former employee of a charter school in connection with a sexual encounter with a 16-year-old student.

Sgt. Larry Tolpin, head of the Dayton police special victims unit, said the grand jury Thursday handed up the indictment against Duranda Buckley of Vandalia on a single count of felony sexual battery, which allegedly occurred last March.

Tolpin said at the time Buckley worked in the administration of the Life Skills Center of Dayton where the alleged victim was a student.

SVU detectives were tipped off to the alleged crime in April. “There was multiple communications between Buckley and the victim by telephone, text messages and Facebook posts,” Tolpin said.

Though the sexual encounter was consensual, it was a crime given Buckley’s position at the school, where she had access to student records, and the age of the male victim, Tolpin said.

“She showed very bad judgment,” Tolpin said.

Buckley is no longer employed by the charter school.

A Life Skills administrator referred calls to White Hat Management, operator of the charter school. A White Hat spokesman in Akron declined to comment. White Hat operates 46 charter schools in six states, according to its website.