A fourth-grade teacher at Bellefontaine’s Western Intermediate School, who was arrested Tuesday on prostitution charges, allegedly used a school computer and postings on Craigslist to set up daytime trysts with clients.

Amber R. Carter, 35, of Bellefontaine, was taken into custody around noon by deputies of the Logan County Sheriff’s Office in the parking lot of the Bellefontaine Super 8 Motel, 1117 N. Main St., without incident. She was charged with third-degree misdemeanor prostitution and fifth-degree felony unauthorized use of property.

She is now free on bond and no date for her initial court appearance had been set as of this morning.

Bellefontaine City Schools is cooperating with the sheriff’s office, Superintendent Larry Anderson, Ph.D., said this morning.

“It’s really a shock,” Dr. Anderson said. “We’re pretty devastated on this.

“She has never been a disciplinary case and I’ve never heard of her being reprimanded. Her annual reviews have always been very satisfactory.”

Ms. Carter, a 13-year BCS employee, has been placed on administrative leave.

District administrators were to meet with legal counsel today to determine a course of action. Dr. Anderson said the offenses Ms. Carter is charged with are also in violation of the state board of education’s code of professional conduct.

“This not only comes under state law, but under our board policies as well,” he said.

Deputies had arranged to meet Ms. Carter at the hotel after receiving an anonymous tip Feb. 4 about her ad on Craigslist, a popular Internet site used to post classifieds.

As they began the investigation, detectives did not know if the acts of alleged prostitution were occurring inside or outside Bellefontaine. It is unknown how long she had been advertising on the Web site.

Deputies suspect she used a school computer to communicate with them, leading to the unauthorized use charge.