Nicole Dufault has been indicted on 40 counts of sexual assault.
A 35-year-old teacher accused of sexually assaulting six of her male students has been indicted on 40 counts of aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child, according to the New York Daily News. The charges relate to some 12 alleged sexual encounters that occurred over 2013 and 2014 with 14- and 15-year-old students at Columbia High School in New Jersey. Authorities claim the sex acts took place on school property and in the teacher’s car.
Nicole Dufault, a language arts teacher at Columbia High for the past nine years, was first arrested in September. At that time, prosecutors acquired video that they say showed her performing oral sex on one of the teens while another alleged victim is present.
Dufault’s defense attorney hasn’t seen the video in question, but suggests it might not tell the “entire story.”
“For example, she could be the victim,” attorney Timothy Smith said.
Dufault is a single mother of two young children, and Smith argues she is a model citizen and mother, such that this was her first run-in with the law. But the prosecutors claim she faced two complaints in the past year at school, one related to “inappropriate sexual conversations” in class.
Dufault is currently out on $500,000 bail and scheduled to appear in court March 6, according to the Daily News
