A Plainfield North High School teacher has been ordered not to have unsupervised contact with anyone under age 18 after a judge set her bond this afternoon at $75,000, following charges she had sex with a 16-year-old boy.
Ashley M. Blumenshine, 27, of the 4000 block Nutmeg Lane in Lisle was charged with criminal sexual abuse after police say she allegedly had sex with the 16-year-old, who is a junior at Plainfield North, in a vehicle behind Kohl’s, 11860 S. Route 59.
Police chief Bill Doster said police approached the scene behind Kohl’s when they noticed two suspicious vehicles “at the end of the lot away from anything else.”
Will County Assistant States Attorney Mary Fillipitch asked Will County Circuit Court Judge Marzell Richardson for $200,000 bond stating that both Blumenshine and the 16-year-old boy, identified as E.L. in court documents, admitted to having sex. Filipitch said a condom was found at the scene.
Blumenshine’s attorney, George Lenard, asked for a $10,000 bond noting she has no previous criminal record.
The aggravated criminal sexual abuse charge is a felony punishable by three to seven years in prison.
Family members, including her father and step-mother, attended the hearing, but declined comment.
Lenard, said his client plans to plead not guilty but declined further comment about the nature of her relationship with the boy.
Blumenshine is not married and is a graduate of Eastern Illinois University and Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais.
Plainfield District 202 released a statement this morning saying the district would take “appropriate action” after Blumenshine is released from custody.
Plainfield District 202 spokesman Tom Hernandez said Blumenshine is a physical education teacher who has taught in the district since 2006.
A substitute teacher will assume Blumenshine’s teaching duties and counseling services are available for students.
Tribune reporter Mary Owen contributed to this report.
Fact is she is not a man and the so called victim is not a girl. As much as we desire equality here, the boy in question will not be scarred for life, except for the police attention and damage it has done to her. Ultimately the teacher is the only victim here.
rob: would you say the same thing if it were your 16 year old daughter and the teacher had been a 27 year old man? Don’t think so. Statutory rape is statutory rape, regardless of the sex of the individuals involved. Sadly, the sentence won’t be the same. so much for sexual equality for men.
SHE SHOULD GET THE SAME TREATMENT AS A MAN, THE COURTS WILL JUST TAP HER ON THE HAND.
The poor victim, a teenage boy who is a hero to every schoolboy. A ridiculous legal matter made of this. If I was the judge I would have dismissed the case with prejudice against the Plaintiffs.
I hope the criminal justice system throws the book at her. How dare she? I am sick to my stomach of these stories.
I don’t think this is news.