Thiel pleads not guilty in sex case

SANDPOINT — A former Lake Pend Oreille School District teacher accused of having sex with a former student pleaded not guilty on Monday.

Nichole Noel Thiel’s plea clears the way for a four-day jury trial in 1st District Court in August. She is charged with sexual battery of a minor between the ages of 16-17.

Thiel, a 48-year-old Coeur d’Alene resident, is free on her own recognizance while the case is pending.

Thiel is accused of having sex with the student in December 2015, when the teen was 16. At the time, Thiel was the teen’s culinary arts teacher at Lake Pend Oreille High School.

The felony charge surfaced earlier this year, not long after the teen disclosed the sexual rendezvous to school officials. Thiel was vice principal and athletic director at Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy when the charge emerged and was reportedly placed on leave when the Sandpoint Police officials confirmed she was the subject of a sex crime investigation.

Thiel declined to speak with police when confronted with the teen’s claim and she invoked her right to remain silent during a preliminary hearing in Bonner County Magistrate Court last month.

The teen testified that Thiel took her to a Sandpoint condominium complex, where they had sex. The teen admitted under cross-examination that having sex with one of his teachers was an unchecked box on his bucket list.

A pretrial hearing in the case is planned for July, court records show.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.