DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday upheld the conviction of a high school teacher who claimed his only physical contact with the student was hugging, finding that the hugging amounted to sexual misconduct in light of instant messages that showed she had “become the object of” his sexual desires.

Bradley Wickes, a 38-year-old former Camanche High School social studies teacher, was convicted in 2015 of a charge of sexual exploitation by a school employee and sentenced to five years in prison. Although the only physical contact Wickes had with the 17-year-old student were hugs at school and school-related events, the court concluded that more than a thousand Facebook Messenger exchanges between them over 45 days indicated that she had “become the object of Wickes’s fantasies and sexual desires, and the hugs that coincided with these messages were for his sexual gratification.”

Wickes challenged the conclusion that hugging a student constituted sexual conduct. But the justices ruled against him, pointing out that rulings in other states — including Maryland in 2013, Oregon in 2009 and Vermont in 2006 — found that hugging can constitute sexual exploitation in certain cases. They said they would not narrow the scope of the teacher sexual exploitation law by finding that hugs alone cannot amount to sexual conduct.

The court acknowledged that there was no evidence showing that Wickes had engaged in a sex act with the teen or any physical contact other than hugging, but it said the Facebook Messenger exchanges show how attractive he found her and how he wanted a more intimate relationship with her.

Within days of that message, the girl’s family discovered the relationship and took her cellphone to the police. Wickes resigned and was charged soon thereafter. Although the justices determined that the hugging was illegal in this case, they said teachers shouldn’t be overly worried about innocent hugs with students.

The court also upheld Wickes’ five-year prison sentence, finding that it wasn’t cruel or unusual punishment.