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Trial for former Mundelein-area teacher delayed again

The trial for a former teacher accused of molesting a student at West Oak Middle School was delayed again in Lake County court early Monday.

Nicole R. Jacobsen, now 42, remains free after posting the required 10 percent of her $50,000 bail, but remains charged with multiple counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a 14-year-old middle school boy.

Jacobsen, a former eighth-grade teacher at the school, molested the boy in a classroom at the school following a May 13, 2010 volleyball game, authorities said.

The trial has been delayed multiple times over the past three-and-a-half years since charges were filed, twice since she was offered a plea deal in October.

Defense attorney Greg Nikitas said he is waiting for a sex offender evaluation to be completed by court counselors before he can potentially resolve the case.

“The sex offender evaluation will have an impact on any potential sentence (Jacobsen) could face,” he said. “She had one done previously, but it needs to be updated. When that is finished, we should be able to move forward.”

The plea deal offered in October would keep Jacobsen out of jail, Nikitas said previously. However, he would not discuss additional details surrounding the deal.

Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti pushed back the trial to March 31, and set a Feb. 27 pretrial date.

The allegations surfaced when a family member of the victim found a message from Jacobsen on the victim's Facebook page and took a printout of the message to school officials, authorities said.

Jacobsen initially denied sending the message and claimed someone must hacked her Facebook account, authorities said. However, she later admitted she had sent the message and had molested the boy, authorities said.

She was immediately suspended by the district and was later fired from her job.

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