WYTHEVILLE -- A former Wythe County teacher pleaded no contest Monday to charges that she was sexually involved with two of her teenage students.

Karen Susan Patton, 42, was a seventh-grade English teacher and cheerleading coach at Scott Memorial Middle School when one of the relationships came to light more than a year ago.

The mother of a 13-year-old boy went to police with instant messages between Patton and the boy and what appeared to be a letter written by Patton referencing a sexual relationship.

Patton was charged Jan. 27, 2006, with carnal knowledge and nonforcible sodomy for having oral sex with the boy. She resigned that day from Scott Memorial, where she had taught for about a year and a half.

The next month, Patton was charged with molesting two other boys, one of them in July 2004 and the other in August 2004.

Both had been her students either in Wythe County or Carroll County, where she taught for more than a decade before joining the staff at Scott Memorial. In 2003 she was named Carroll County's teacher of the year.

Patton faced a total of seven charges: four counts of carnal knowledge, one count of nonforcible sodomy and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Her case was scheduled to go before a jury earlier this month. Instead, she pleaded no contest Monday afternoon in Wythe County Circuit Court to two counts of carnal knowledge and the sodomy charge.

Commonwealth's Attorney Gerald Mabe dropped the other two carnal knowledge charges and dismissed the contributing charges, including all charges related to allegations that she molested a boy in July 2004.

According to evidence Mabe summarized in court that he attributed to Investigator Eddie Williams of the Wytheville Police Department, Patton carnally knew one 13-year-old boy Jan. 17, 2006, and another in August 2004, both times at her Wythe County home.

Carnal knowledge could be intimate touching, oral or anal sex or intercourse.

Circuit Judge Joey Showalter found Patton guilty of the three felony counts and will sentence her in June, after a background report is completed. Patton has not entered into a written plea agreement and faces up to 25 years in prison -- 10 years on each carnal knowledge charge and five on the sodomy charge -- and a fine up to $202,500.

Showalter granted a motion by Patton's defense attorney, Clinton Kegley, that will allow her to remain free on bond until her sentencing.