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Mundelein teacher could get plea deal in 2010 molestation case

The three-year-old case against a former West Oak Middle School teacher accused of molesting a 14-year-old student may be close to wrapping up, attorneys said Wednesday.

A negotiated plea deal is expected to be presented to Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti by Dec. 6, in the case against former teacher Nicole Jacobsen, 42, who is charged with molesting the student in a classroom following a middle school volleyball game on May 13, 2010, attorneys said.

Neither Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Victor O'Block nor defense attorney Greg Nikitas would go into detail about the plea deal. However, Nikitas said after the court hearing that “the potential resolution would not involve incarceration.”

“All I can say is that we are very close,” he said, adding he expects the deal to be in place when the two sides meet Dec. 6.

Jacobsen, a former eighth grade teacher at the Mundelein-area middle school, is free on bail after posting the required 10 percent of her $50,000 bond following her arrest in May 2010.

Officials said the relationship between Jacobsen and the student came to light after the student's 17-year-old brother found a message from Jacobsen on the victim's Facebook page.

The older boy took a printout of the message to school officials, authorities said, who confronted Jacobsen with the information.

Jacobsen, formerly of Barrington, initially told school administrators that someone hacked her Facebook account and sent the message, authorities said. But, she later admitted to authorities she had molested the student and sent the message, authorities said.

She was immediately placed on leave, then fired.

Jacobsen's trial has been routinely delayed over the past three years. It was scheduled for Nov. 11, but was delayed one more time by Rossetti on Wednesday in light of a negotiation in the works.

The new trial date is slated for Jan. 6, if the settlement isn't reached.

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