A former teacher in California was arrested after he was found in a teenage girl’s bedroom after he was fired for communicating with her, according to reports.

After a three-year investigation, Patrick John Mester, 65, was charged with two counts of arranging to meet with a minor for lewd purposes and lewd acts with a minor, Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office records show.

In a press release, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office said Mester was arrested on Oct. 23 and that the investigation into the case “has been ongoing since 2021.”

Mester was arrested in March of that year and lost his job as a band teacher at James C Enochs High School in Modesto after the city’s police department detained him for inappropriate communication with a student, a 16-year-old girl.

A second investigation was launched by the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office in October 2021 after Mester was found in the girl’s bedroom by her mother.

Following his March 2021 arrest, bail was set at $5,000 and Mester was released.

Modesto City Schools said at the time that they “took immediate action to ensure that he has no contact with students and revoked his right to visit our facilities. This directive will continue to be in place as the criminal proceedings proceed.”

Mester had worked for the school district for more than two decades, since 2003. He was first a music teacher at another high school before working at both schools. In 2008, he started working full-time at Enochs.

Officials said Modesto bee that Mester passed background checks and had regular child abuse and harassment training sessions.

But Mester allegedly tried to contact the 16-year-old again after his initial release.

The three-year investigation, which included multiple interviews with the victim, led to charges and Mester’s arrest Wednesday.

The sheriff’s office said SFGate that the three years between the initial arrest and the filing of charges was due to “active and ongoing investigations involving our victim.”

“Serious cases like this need to be carefully built over time,” the office told the press.

Mester, who was born in Michigan, according to arrest records, is currently being held at the Modesto Detention Center and is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 30. Bail was set at $650,000.