Decatur Public School District employee charged with sexually abusing 16-year-old

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - A now-former Decatur Public School District employee has been charged with sexually abusing a child.

A Decatur Police Department school resource officer got information on March 27 that a 21-year-old DPS employee was having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old. The teen is not a student in the Decatur Public School District system.

Nicholl Boose is now charged with criminal sexual assault.

According to a DPS Board of Education agenda, Boose was a special education assistant at Hope Academy and resigned on April 3.

In October 2025, the Decatur Police Department initiated an investigation involving Boose and the same male juvenile following a similar report. At that time, Boose was not employed by Decatur Public Schools.

That investigation was ultimately closed after consultation with the Macon County State’s Attorney’s Office, due to insufficient evidence for prosecution.

Based on the newly received information, the Decatur Police Department has reinitiated the investigation into these allegations. The investigation remains ongoing.

According to a sworn statement, Boose initially believed the teen was 18 years old, and later moved in with her at a local hotel. Boose then told police in a Mirandaized interview that they moved into an apartment with a friend from August 2025 to October of that year, when the teen overdosed on drugs.

It is unclear what drugs the 16-year-old had overdosed on.

Boose said in the sworn that the pair did engage in sexual activities multiple times while living together. The statement added that she received a message from a friend that stated the teen's real age, but she never questioned them about it.

Boose was booked into the Macon County Jail and was denied pretrial release. She is due back in court in May.

WAND News reached out to DPS about Boose's arrest. The District said in a statement, "District administration is aware of concerns involving a Macon Piatt Special Education employee at District #61. The employee has since resigned, effective April 3, 2026. Because this matter remains under investigation with the Decatur Police Department, we are unable to provide additional details."