Jeremy Lind, the Oak Park and River Forest High School English teacher who was arrested and charged last December with multiple felonies for allegedly having sexual intercourse with a student, has pleaded guilty to aggravated criminal sexual abuse, according to court records. On Dec. 16, the former teacher was sentenced to a minimum of two years’ probation.
Lind — who was placed on administrative leave on Oct. 1, 2015 a day after school officials learned of the allegation — resigned from OPRF last August. According to a Feb. 9 Wednesday Journal report, Lind, 41, had undergone alcohol abuse treatment and periodic psychotherapy. He had also been placed on house arrest before transitioning into the county’s pretrial services monitoring program, an indication that he may have held down a job since leaving the high school.
When Lind was given a $150,000 bond, he was ordered to surrender his passport and prohibited from having contact with anyone under 18 years old, except for relatives. The former teacher had initially been facing a 22-count indictment, which included four counts of criminal sexual assault, a count of attempted criminal sexual assault and four counts of traveling to meet a minor, among other charges.
Those charges of criminal sexual assault are Class 1 felonies and punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
According to media reports, Lind’s relationship with the OPRF female, who had been Lind’s student, began when she was 16 years old and continued after she turned 17. The two reportedly met during a June 2015 school trip to Ireland.
Lind allegedly had sex with the girl in Chicago last September, shortly after school officials learned of the relationship on Sept. 30.