A former Orland Park teacher accused of having sex with two underage former students is planning to get married this weekend.
Cara Labus requested permission Tuesday in Cook County court to be allowed into her own backyard late into Saturday night. Attorneys for the 31-year-old Joliet woman said she is on electronic home monitoring at her Joliet home.
A Cook County judge granted the motion to allow Labus to attend the reception in her backyard until 11:59 p.m. Saturday over objections from the prosecution.
Labus posted bond earlier this year. She faces four counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse stemming from allegations involving two former students who were between the ages of 14 and 16 when the alleged abuse occurred.
Her fiance, who appeared in court with her Tuesday, is listed as a physical education teacher at a Joliet school, according to the school’s staff directory. Labus taught at the same Joliet school when she was arrested in January.
A message seeking comment from Labus and her fiance was not immediately returned Tuesday.
Marriage license information provided by the Will County clerk’s office lists addresses for both in Joliet.
Authorities allege Labus met the victims while she was a teacher and basketball coach at Jerling Junior High in Orland Park and remained in contact with them after graduation. She allegedly had sex with the teens on multiple occasions between December 2008 and February 2011.
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The relationships came to light when one of the teens reported the relationship in December 2014, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
Labus had worked for Orland School District 135 since 2006. She was hired to teach sixth-grade math at Jerling.
She left in 2010 and was later hired in Joliet. According to a spokeswoman for the Joliet Public Schools District 86, she resigned from her position with the school Feb. 4.
It was in Joliet where Labus ran into difficulties with a woman she claimed stalked her and accused her of having an inappropriate relationship with a student.
Labus was granted an emergency no contact order in December 2014, which was dismissed a month later when Labus failed to show up for a court hearing on the issue.
In her petition for the order filed in Will County, Labus described how the woman sent her text messages, talked to her boss, her sister and attempted to talk to her parents claiming Labus had an inappropriate relationship with a student in 2007. She noted in one instance, the woman showed up at her parent’s home when Labus and her boyfriend were in the driveway.
Will County court records don’t indicate whether the boyfriend mentioned in the order of protection is her current fiance.
Labus wrote that she feared for the safety of herself and her family and that the woman was “making false accusations about my conduct as a teacher, which if not stopped, can ruin my career.”
Labus wrote that the woman texted her “between 50 and 60 times” within a 24-hour period in September. In the texts, the woman accused Labus of having an inappropriate relationship with someone she met seven years ago, according to Labus’ petition.
In her petition to the court, Labus said the woman identified herself as one of her former students to the school principal and asked to see Labus. When Labus realized who it was, the school principal filed a police report.
Nick Swedberg and Alicia Fabbre are freelance reporters for the Daily Southtown.