Crime & Safety

Blumenshine Working, Doing 'Fine' as She Awaits Student Sex Case Trial

Her appearance has been changed significantly since her January arrest; no decision has been made on whether she'll seek a plea agreement, her attorney says.

has cut and dyed her hair, found a new job and is doing "just fine," her attorney said today following a hearing in the former Plainfield teacher's aggravated criminal sexual assault case.

Blumenshine, 28, did not speak at the Will County Circuit Court hearing, at which defense George Lenard asked that her pre-trial hearing be postponed until Dec. 22.

Lenard said later that they not yet decided whether to go to trial or to seek a plea agreement. There are "advantages and disadvantages to pleading guilty," he said. For the time being, he's working on a "mitigation package" and waiting to receive more items in the discovery process.

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was arrested in January after Plainfield police found her and a 16-year-old student from Plainfield North High School partially clothed in a car, which was parked near the rear of the Plainfield Kohl's store on Route 59. The pair admitted to police they'd just had sex and were involved in an ongoing sexual relationship, according to reports.

Blumenshine was never the student's teacher. She as a physical education teacher and as a girls golf and gymnastics coach.

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Lenard said that Blumenshine is doing well, but he declined to say what type of work she was doing or if she continued to live in Marseilles with her mother and stepfather. She had been living in Lisle but moved following her arrest.

His reluctance to provide more details, he said, is because the public and press remain curious about her, and people will approach her to take photos or to ask about the status of her case. He continues to get media requests for interviews, he said.

Her appearance has changed dramatically since her arrest. Her long light brown hair is now dark brown, wavy and shoulder length.

Lenard said the new style has nothing to do with a desire to go unrecognized as much as wanting to try something new.

"She's doing just fine," he said. "Her mental health is fine."


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