SEATTLE -- A Washington state appeals court ruled Tuesday that state law does not bar teachers from having consensual sex with 18-year-old students.

The court's ruling dismisses a case against a former Hoquiam High School choir teacher.

A three-judge panel ruled Tuesday that the state law was written vaguely and that lawmakers only intended to criminalize sex between teachers and 16- or 17-year-old students, not those over 18 years old.

The teacher, Matthew Hirschfelder, was charged with first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor. He challenged a judge's refusal to dismiss his case.

Hirschfelder was 33 in 2006 at the time of the alleged relationship with the young woman. He resigned the following year.