Illinois Teacher Gets Probation for Sex Abuse of Student - Update

(Lake County, Illinois) Former teacher Nicole Jacobsen pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a middle school student and was sentenced to probation and home monitoring.

Jacobsen, 43, was also ordered to remain on the sex offender registry for the next 10 years, and to have no contact with the victim's family or with West Oak Middle School, where she was working at the time. She will be on probation for 30 months, 18 of them on home monitoring, Judge Victoria Rossetti ordered.

Jacobsen, who did not speak or show emotion during the brief hearing, pleaded guilty last year in Lake County court to one count of criminal sexual abuse, and could have received up to three years in prison.

The victim's family agreed with the sentence.

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Illinois Teacher Pleads Guilty to Sex Abuse of Student - Update
[Previous 9/18/14 post]
(Lake County, Illinois) Former West Oak Middle School teacher Nicole Jacobsen, 43, has pleaded guilty to criminal sexual abuse of a 14-year-old male student.

The plea came under a negotiation which allowed Jacobsen to avoid the more serious charge of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

Judge Victoria Rossetti set a sentencing date of Nov. 13 for Jacobsen, who has remained free from custody after posting 10 percent of a $500,000 bond.

Although Assistant State’s Attorney Victor O’Block and defense attorney Greg Nikitas said they would continue negotiations on a proposed sentence, Rossetti made it clear to Jacobsen that she will be the one who ultimately decides her sentence.

The victim and his family reportedly agree with the plea deal.

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Illinois Teacher Accused of Sex Abuse of Student
[Previous 5/8/14 post]
(Lake County, Illinois) A 42-year-old teacher formerly at West Oak Middle School in Mundelein, Nicole Jacobsen, has been accused of abusing a 14-year-old student four years ago.

Jacobsen faces a charge of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

Jacobsen was an eighth-grade teacher at West Oak when the incident involving a 14-year-old male student allegedly occurred in a school classroom on May 13, 2010, after a volleyball game at the school.

Jacobsen was in her first year with the school, where she was working as a learning disabilities resource teacher, providing help to students kids who needed extra assistance, when the abuse allegedly occurred.

An investigation was opened after the boy’s older brother found messages on the 14-year-old’s Facebook account between the boy and Jacobsen, including one from the teacher that read “I love you and can’t wait to see you,” officials said.

Jacobsen allegedly admitted to Lake County Sheriff’s investigators that she sent the Facebook messages and confessed to the May 13 incident.

A plea deal is expected.