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DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA) — Recent findings from the Decatur Police Department have shed light on the allegations facing a former Macon County teacher’s assistant accused of sexual misconduct.
On Wednesday, WCIA reported the arrest of 20-year-old Nicholl Boose by Decatur Police, following an investigation into an alleged sexual relationship with a 16-year-old. Boose has been charged with one misdemeanor count of criminal sexual abuse.
According to a sworn statement recently acquired by WCIA, Boose was employed as a teacher’s assistant at Hope Academy when the allegations first surfaced on March 27. Detective James Knierim, who signed the statement, was serving as a school resource officer at Hope Academy when the school’s main office received a concerning call.
“The call revealed that Nicholl was involved in a relationship with a 16-year-old boy,” Knierim stated.
Importantly, the teenager was not enrolled in the Decatur Public Schools system.
Knierim said that when he contacted DCFS, he was told there was a previous investigation into Boose that took place the previous October. An employee said the teen had overdosed in Boose’s apartment and he later told medical staff he was not only in a dating relationship with Boose, but sexually active with her.
“This investigation was completed by Detective Michael Donaker, and he informed me the 16-year-old was respectful and told everyone that he did not want to get anyone into trouble,” Knierim said. “There was no disclosure in this investigation. Detective Donaker was not able to locate and make contact with Nicholl during the investigation.”
The investigation was closed due to a lack of sufficient evidence against Boose. But after the new allegations were made, Knierim said he made contact with Boose on March 30 and conducted a Mirandized interview with her.
She reportedly denied knowing the teen, then admitted she knew him since July of 2025.
“Nicholl said [he] had told her he was 18 years old when they met, and she believed that. Nicholl said [he] moved in with her into a Motel, USA Inn,” Knierim said. “Nicholl stated she knew [the teen] was reported as a runaway but said he ran away when he was 17 years old and had since turned 18. Nicholl said they then moved into an apartment with a friend and lived there from August 2025 to October 2025 when [he] overdosed on drugs in her apartment.”
Knierim said that Boose admitted to being in a dating relationship with the teen and, after initially denying it, later admitted to performing sex acts on the teen. After learning his true age when the teen overdosed, Boose claimed to have had no further contact with him.
After that interview, however, Knierim said there was a new DCFS Hotline call, saying Boose was still in a relationship with the teen and that they had sexual intercourse on March 25. A school employee then reported on March 31 that Boose had been seen driving around Maroa with teenage boys the previous night, the same day as her interview with Knierim and the same day the school district placed her on administrative leave.
“On 3/31/26 I spoke with the mother of [the teen] and she advised in December of 2025 that she told Nicholl in person to leave her son alone because he was only 16 years old,” Knierim said.
Knierim also spoke with the teen, who corroborated Boose’s story that he told her he was 18 when they first met, and she learned his true age when he overdosed. He then admitted to being with Boose on both March 25 and March 30 and said the two of them had further sexual activity on the former date.
Boose subsequently resigned from DPS, effective April 3, but it wasn’t until this week that she was arrested.
“On 4/14/26, a Decatur Patrol Officer had pulled Nicholl over for speeding and I learned [the teen] was in the vehicle with her,” Knierim said. “I arrived on scene and Nicholl was arrested.”
He added that during a subsequent Mirandized interview, Boose admitted to knowing the teen’s true age and performing a sex act on him in January 2026.
With all of this evidence, Boose was officially charged with a Class A misdemeanor of criminal sexual abuse, the charge specifically mentioning that Boose is less than five years older than the teen. She appeared in court for the first time on Wednesday.
The Macon County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to deny Boose pretrial release, and Judge Rodney Forbes granted that request. He found that there is “clear and convincing evidence that proof is evident or the presumption is great” that Boose had committed the offense she was accused of, that she does pose a “real and present threat to the safety” of the public and that no conditions or combination of conditions could mitigate that threat.
Boose will remain in the Macon County Jail pending trial. She is due back in court on May 19 for a preliminary hearing, when she will enter a formal plea to the charge against her.