Joliet Teacher Charged With Sex Crimes Sought Court Protection

Editor's note: Because the charges against the woman accused of stalking Cara Labus were dismissed, her name has been removed from this article.

A Joliet junior high school teacher charged with sexually abusing two former students sought and obtained a protective order against a woman she claimed stalked her and accused her of having an “inappropriate relationship with a student.”

Cara Labus, 30, succeeded in obtaining a protective court order last month from Will County Judge Marilee Viola, and managed to get the order extended on Jan. 8. But on Wednesday, the Orland Park police arrested Labus on charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in connection with incidents involving two teenage girls.

“Labus came to know the victims while she was employed as a teacher and basketball coach at Jerling Junior High School in Orland Park,” according to a statement released by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

“After the victims graduated from junior high, Labus kept in contact with them and from December 2008 through February 2011 she is alleged to have engaged in various sex acts with the victims on several occasions,” the statement said. “During the summer of 2014, one of the victims told a friend about the abuse and then filed a police report in December of 2014. Around that same time, the other victim made an outcry to the first victim regarding abuse by Labus during the same time frame.”

After leaving Jerling Junior High, Labus went to work as a teacher at Hufford Junior High School in Joliet. In her petition for a protective order against the woman, Labus said she was harassed at Hufford, as well as at her home and at her parents’ house. Labus said in her petition that she lives in Palos Park. The State’s attorney’s office said she lives in Joliet.

In her petition, Labus does not explain her relationship with the woman. She does claim, however, she texted her at least 50 times in one day.

“The content of the messages included her accusing me of having an inappropriate relationship with someone I met seven years ago,” Labus said in her petition. “She accused me of being verbally, emotionally, physically and sexually abusive towards a friend and the friend’s sister, whom [Name withheld] is in a physical relationship with.”

The woman showed up at Hufford in September, Labus said, slipping in through a side door.

“[The woman] then told my boss, the principal, that she was an old student of mine, gave her a fake name, and said she wanted to tell me hello,” Labus said. “When my boss asked me if I knew her, I recognized her as [name withheld], and told my boss that she wasn’t a former student. My boss filed a police report on [name withheld] for trespassing.”

Four days later, the woman called the school “stating she needs to report that a teacher at my school had an inappropriate relationship with a student,” Labus said, and {name withheld] called again after three days “with the same accusations.”

In December, “[Name withheld] showed up at my parents’ house with someone claiming to be one of the former students she is accusing me of having an inappropriate relationship with,” Labus said. “She rang the doorbell. My dad answered the door, and they asked to come in. My dad closed the door.”

Labus said a representative of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services met with her at Hufford in December. The DCFS worker repeated the allegations made by the woman, she said, but the “report was unfounded.”

“I fear not only my safety and well-being, but for that of my family, and for my career as well,” Labus said. “She keeps making false allegations about my conduct as a teacher, which if not stopped, can ruin my career.”

Messages left for [name withheld] at the Bartett residence listed in Labus’ petition were not returned.

The day before Labus was arrested, the protective order was dismissed. Both Labus and the woman agreed to the dismissal, according to court records.

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