An 18-year-old student was charged Wednesday with statutory rape after school officials learned he was meeting a 14-year-old girl in a Portal Middle/High School bathroom for sex.

Matthew Dean Norris of Old Portal Road in Portal was jailed on statutory rape charges after the 14-year-old’s grandmother met with school officials and Portal police Chief Jason Sapp at the school, Sapp said.

According to statements issued by both Norris and the girl, the acts were consensual, and the two, both students, were in a relationship with each other, he said.

During class throughout the day, on at least four occasions, the two would text and arrange meetings in the school bathroom, under pretense of having to go use the restroom or go see the school nurse, Sapp said.

“The girl told some friends and rumors got started,” he said.

Then, the girl’s grandmother discovered the girl returned home after school “with a hickey on her neck,” he said.

After learning of the relationship with Norris, the girl’s grandmother went to the school and had Sapp summoned to the school, he said.

Because Norris is 18 and the girl involved was 14, the encounters are considered illegal and subject to statutory rape charges, Sapp said.

Norris was taken to the Bulloch County Jail, where he awaits further court action, he said.

Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.