By Brian Day, Staff Writer

A judge sentenced a former Diamond Bar middle school teacher to more than 15 years in prison Thursday for carrying on a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student, officials said.

Ex-Carl Lorbeer Middle School teacher Steven Shane Andrews, 43, of Anaheim, received the maximum sentence of 15 years and 18 months in state prison from Pomona Superior Court Judge Mike Camacho, according to Sarah Ardalani of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

A jury convicted Andrews in March of 17 felony counts related to the a sexual relationship he had with a student between May 2011 and his his Sept. 20, 2011, arrest, authorities said.

Camacho additionally ordered Andrews to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, Ardalani said.

Andrews first met his victim at school when she was 13 years old, investigators said. “The defendant taught the victim for about a year before the sexual misconduct began,” Ardalani said in a written statement. “Initially, the incidents transpired at the school, but later also occurred off-campus.”

The crimes came to light when another teacher at the school became suspicious of Andrews’ interactions with the girl and notified the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, she added.

Andrews was placed on leave from the Pomona Unified School District a day before his arrest when school officials learned of the allegations, district officials said. He was fired in December of 2012.

The investigation was handled by the Sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau.