Court Continues Case of Angelica Rangel

The legal case against a former Nazareth Academy teacher accused of allegedly engaging in a sexual relationship with a student was continued until May 25.

Angelica Rangel, who allegedly carried on a sexual relationship with one of her students, briefly appeared before Cook County Judge Colleen McSweeney Moore on May 6.  She is charged with one count of criminal sexual assault, a Class 1 felony.

The Friday appearance in Bridgeview was scheduled to be a preliminary hearing.

Rangel worked for two years as a Spanish teacher at Nazareth Academy. The victim was in her Spanish class for two years, court records show. She has been fired by the school.

Court records allege that Rangel and the alleged victim had sexual contact eight to 10 times between October, 2010 and March 31, 2011. According to court records, Rangel and the minor student engaged in a sexual relationship in her home in Justice and once in a car in North Riverside.

According to Cook County State’s Attorney’s office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton, police obtained photographs of Rangel and the victim from his cellular telephone. The victim also possessed a photograph of Rangel in a bathtub with her breasts partially exposed.

Rangel first appeared before the court on April 15. The judge set bond at $150,000 and ordered Rangel to have no contact with the victim, the victim's family or anyone under age 18. Rangel appeared to be free on bond when she appeared before the court on May 6. When her docket was called Rangel joined her attorney from a seat in the gallery, which indicates she is free on bond. Patch is seeking to confirm this with Cook County officials.

In a statement released after the arrest, Nazareth Academy officials said they were “deeply saddened” by the incident.

“We will now focus our efforts as a management team to make sure that this never happens again and begin the process of helping our community with any healing that may need to take place,” the statement said.