An elementary school teacher from Oak Harbor was recently arrested on suspicion of rape and assault, according to court documents.

Chad J. Boyer, 54, appeared in Island County Superior Court Friday afternoon. Judge Carolyn Cliff found probable cause to believe Boyer may have committed the crimes of rape in the second degree and assault in the second degree.

Boyer is a PE teacher at Olympic View Elementary, but the accusations against him are unrelated to the school district or his job. Boyer denied the allegations in an interview with a detective, according to court documents.

Cliff released Boyer on his personal recognizance. He has no criminal history.

Oak Harbor Public Schools sent out a statement to families last Friday about felony charges made against an employee, though the statement did not name Boyer or explain the allegations because of employee privacy laws. It states that the employee was immediately placed on administrative leave and will not be working at the school at this time.

“We recognize that news like this can be concerning,” the statement says. “While these actions, if true, do not reflect the values of Oak Harbor Public Schools, we want to emphasize that the allegations presented to us were unrelated to students or this individual’s employment.”

On Aug. 25, a 51-year-old woman reported being sexually assaulted by Boyer, according to a report by a detective with the Oak Harbor Police Department. She said she met him on a dating app years prior and had recently reconnected over text. She told the police that he asked her to come over to help him jump his car but then didn’t seem to actually need a jump when she arrived, the report states.

The woman told police that Boyer repeatedly asked her to come inside his home, and she repeatedly refused. She said he finally took her by the hand and persuaded her to come inside, and she followed him to a bedroom, according the the report.

The woman told the detective that Boyer surprised her by taking off his pants and then violently sexually assaulted her while she told him to stop, the report states. The woman said Boyer strangled her and assaulted her more vigorously when she physically resisted, the detective wrote.

The woman said the sexual assault left her with abdominal pain and that her throat was sore. She told the detective that her eyes were blurry and she kept tearing up, but the detective didn’t notice signs of petechiae, which are pinpoint marks on skin and eyes that can be a sign of strangulation, the report states.

The woman went to Island Hospital in Anacortes for a sexual assault exam and treatment of injuries. She was held overnight for more testing, including an MRI, the report states.

In an interview with the detective, Boyer denied sexually assaulting the woman and said she had a panic attack and left while he was touching her on the bed, the report states. He told the detective that the woman had dressed provocatively, the report states.