MONTESANO, Wash. (AP) - A Hoquiam High School coach has been charged with first-degree sexual misconduct with an 18-year-old female wrestler.

Todd Hoiness, the school's head football coach and an assistant wrestling coach, appeared in Grays Harbor District Court at Montesano with his attorney, Doug Bitar, on Thursday, and was released on his own recognizance, The Daily World of Aberdeen reported.

According to a police report obtained by the newspaper through a public disclosure request, the relationship began last fall after the girl had problems with an ex-boyfriend. She acknowledged having sex with Hoiness after being confronted with information that she spent a weekend with him at a Portland, Ore., motel.

The legal age of consent in Washington state is 16, but state law forbids school employees from having sexual relationships with students. The teen was a senior at the time.

The affair came to light after her family discovered letters purported to be from Hoiness. The family approached Police Chief Jeff Myers about it late last week.