Ex-teacher's trial remains set

SANDPOINT — The case of a former Lake Pend Oreille High School teacher facing a sexual battery charge remains set for trial.

No resolution was announced Friday during a pretrial hearing in Nichole Noel Thiel’s case. As a result, her four-day jury trial in 1st District remains set for Oct. 10.

Thiel pleaded not guilty in July and remains free on her own recognizance while the case is pending.

Thiel is accused of participating in an alleged rendezvous at a Sandpoint condominium complex in which she had sex with a 16-year-old boy. Thiel, then 46, was a culinary arts teacher at LPOHS, where the teen was enrolled as a student.

Thiel was charged with sexual battery of a teen between the ages of 15-16 years old, an offense that’s punishable by up to 25 years in prison.

The teen testified during a preliminary hearing that he had sex with Thiel in December 2015. Thiel invoked her right to remain silent during the hearing. A judge ruled there was sufficient evidence to justify a district court trial.

Thiel, now 48, was vice principal and athletic director of the Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy when the allegations surfaced in early 2016. She was placed on leave after school officials learned Thiel was under investigation by Sandpoint Police.