A Salem teacher has been charged in an undercover police operation for allegedly attempting to meet with an underage girl for “sexual acts.”

Darren Benedick, a 42-year-old physical education and health teacher, was apparently unaware that the person he was communicating with online was not a 14-year-old girl, but an undercover Newbury police officer who had been monitoring a chatroom “for teenagers only”.

The Salem Academy Charter School teacher was arrested by Newbury police with assistance from Salem police. He was charged with one count of child enticement and one count of distribution of material harmful to minors.

“Authorities currently have no allegations that students at the school were exposed to the defendant's alleged misconduct,” the Essex District Attorney's Office said in a statement.

Benedick was arraigned in Newburyport District Court on Wednesday following the sting operation.

“The defendant is accused of having online conversations with the undercover officer expressing a desire to meet in person and engage in sexual acts, sending the officer an obscene image and describing the sexual acts he wished to perform,” Essex prosecutors said.

Benedick had scheduled a meeting with the individual for Wednesday and was taken into custody when he arrived for the scheduled meeting.