A Carroll County school teacher who once performed at the Academy Awards has been arrested for felony sexual exploitation of a child after allegedly sending inappropriate messages and nude pictures to a 17-year-old male student.

Carroll County Sheriff’s Capt. Shane Taylor said Richard Lee DeLong, 47, of Whitesburg was arrested around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday.

DeLong, a teacher at Crossroads Academy, remained in the county jail with no bond Thursday afternoon.

Taylor said the sheriff’s office received a complaint Tuesday from the student’s mother that her son had been approached by DeLong and asked if he would do some yard work for the teacher one day last week. When the student agreed, DeLong provided him with directions to his house and his phone number.

“The student went down, cut the grass [with] no problems, was paid [and] left afterwards,” Taylor said.

The student then began getting calls from the teacher.

“At first [the student] didn’t think anything about it afterwards,” said Taylor, who added the calls eventually began to get uncomfortable and suggested coming back to DeLong’s house, getting drunk and hanging out.

“Then the calls began to become sexual in nature,” Taylor said. “At that point, the student got with his mother and they met with Investigator Telisha Gibson here at the sheriff’s office. We began an investigation into it that afternoon.”

The sheriff’s office was provided the student’s phone as part of the investigation.

“The investigator began receiving texts and eventually pictures of nude men,” said Taylor, who clarified that DeLong did not send any nude photos of himself.

DeLong then arranged for the student to meet at a place that night.

“After the teacher took those steps, we obtained a warrant and he was arrested,” Taylor said.

Investigators obtained a search warrant for DeLong’s home and collected potential evidence.

“At this time, we continue to investigate and go through those items,” Taylor said.

According to officials with Carroll County Schools, DeLong — who has taught for 21 years — was first employed by the system in August 1988. His most recent position was as “Instructional Facilitator of Online Learning Lab” at the academy, which serves grades 9-12.

DeLong is also a major figure in contemporary Sacred Harp singing, a style of choral music that became popular in the South in the 1800s. He was part of recording sessions for the Civil War movie “Cold Mountain” and performed at the Academy Awards.

He is currently on administrative leave, pending the investigation.