YAKIMA, Wash. -- Jurors heard opening arguments this morning in the trial of a former Wapato teacher accused of having sex with a pre-teen student.

Jesus Vega Barcenas, 28, is charged with two counts of first-degree child rape and three counts of second-degree child rape.

Vega Barcenas was a substitute teacher and former full-time teacher at Wapato’s Adams Elementary School.

The girl he is accused of raping and molesting was a student in his fifth-grade class during the 2006 school year. Authorities allege he kissed and fondled her in his classroom, then later had sex with her after he started dating her mother.

Vega Barcenas’ case was one of four reported in 2007 that involved authority figures close to children. The others were a church volunteer, a karate instructor and a basketball coach.

Those cases have already been resolved in Yakima County Superior Court, where the Vega Barcenas case is also being heard.

Jury selection started Monday, with the trial scheduled to last through next week.

— Mark Morey