A female cafeteria worker at Ludlow School in Ludlow, Ill., has been accused of sexually abusing a male teenage student and sending inappropriate text messages.

She pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being held on $25,000 bond, said assistant state’s attorney Troy Lozar.

Deborah Kissell, 32, was arrested in her home in Ludlow on Tuesday. Kissell has been charged with indecent solicitation to a child under 17 years of age and aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child, Lozar said.

If convicted of these charges, sentencing could be anywhere between probation and seven years in jail, he added.

This is an isolated case, and Kissell has not been accused of having involved any other juveniles, said Lt. Ed Ogle of the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office.

Randy Rosenbaum, the Champaign County public defender who will represent Kissell, said he has not yet received the police reports, but once he does he will look over them and speak with his client about what action to take next.

“It’s too early in the process to know yet,” he said.

Authorities became aware of the situation when the minor’s parents saw some text messages they did not like and contacted the police, Ogle said.

Ludlow is a small town about 20 miles north of Champaign-Urbana with a population of around 450 people, said Drusilla Lobmaster, superintendent principal of Ludlow Community Consolidated School District 142.

Lobmaster said this is her first year with the school, which serves about 100 students from kindergarten through eighth grade and feeds into Rantoul Township High School.

“I am not able to discuss personnel matters at this time,” Lobmaster said.

“We are taking the appropriate action in regard to the matter to ensure the safety and welfare of all our students.”

Because the case involves a minor, all sides must be very guarded about what information is provided to the public, Ogle said.

The Sheriff’s Department has closed its part of the investigation and has turned the records over to the state’s attorney’s office, Ogle said.

Kissell will be in court on May 27 for a pre-trial hearing where she will either be able to enter a plea or attempt to settle the case, Rosenbaum said.

The Kissell case is not unique to the public defender’s office. Rosenbaum said it has handled cases like this before with many different situations.

The case is also not unique to Ludlow or Champaign County, and similar cases are happening around the country frequently, said Terri Miller, president of Stop Educator Sexual Abuse, Misconduct and Exploitation.

The organization is a support network for victims, their families and professionals, Miller said. Misconduct can involve anything from subtle cases of sexual harassment to more serious instances of abuse, she added.

“One in 10 children between kindergarten and 12th grade suffer some type of sexual misconduct in schools,” Miller said. “That is about 4.5 million children.”

One problem is that students may not know what is and is not appropriate, or parents may not be able to recognize when there is a problem, Miller added.

Additionally, laws concerning this misconduct vary from state to state, making legal standards vary greatly.

“Education, education, education,” Miller said.

“That is the key to giving parents and students the tools to better manage these types of situations.”