Former Northwestern Student Pleads Guilty To Sexual Abuse In Deal

EVANSTON, IL — A former Northwestern University student pleaded guilty to reduced charges in a deal with prosecutors that will see him avoid state prison and register as a sex offender for the next 10 years.

Nicholas Nelson, 24, was sentenced Tuesday to 30 months of sex offender probation after pleading guilty to one count of aggravated battery and count of criminal sexual abuse, amended from a previous charge of aggravated criminal sexual assault, according to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.

The charges stem from a February 2018 incident at an off-campus party Nelson was hosting on Maple Avenue in Evanston.

An acquaintance reported drinking multiple shots of vodka, blacking out and awakening to find a Nelson naked and on top of her, choking and sexually assaulting her, authorities said. The woman suffered extensive internal and external injuries from the attack.

Nelson, then in his third year as a Northwestern undergraduate, was expelled from the university following an internal investigation, according to past reports.

EARLIER: Expelled Northwestern Student Charged With Raping Woman At Party

The Cook County State's Attorney did not initially approve felony charges. Nelson was eventually arrested and charged with sexual assault in October.

Prosecutors presented evidence to a grand jury and in November 2018, Nelson was indicted on charges of aggravated criminal sexual assault, criminal sexual assault where he knew the victim was unable to give consent and aggravated battery with strangulation.

Nelson was released on bail while awaiting trial and permitted to move to Minnesota.

Court records there show he was charged with criminal sexual conduct stemming from a May 2020 incident in St. Paul, where a 20-year-old woman told police Nelson forced his way into her pants.

"You can't do that to girls," she told him afterwards, in text messages quoted by Ramsey County prosecutors.

"Like what am I suppose to think about your case after that[?] Like you do [realize] what you did was illegal right? I never gave consent," she said. "I'm not the type of bitch to report that but like come on."

On Feb. 18, authorities in Minnesota filed paperwork dismissing the charge.

"The State continues to believe the victim, but the State does not believe that it can prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt," Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Andrew Johnson said.

RELATED: Ex-Northwestern Student Indicted On 8 Counts Of Sexual Assault

At his sentencing Tuesday in Skokie, Cook County Circuit Judge Anjana Hanson ordered that Nelson must undergo drug and alcohol treatment and entered a civil no contact order forbidding him from contact with the woman he admitted to abusing.

Had he been found guilty of all the charges for which he was indicted in Cook County, Nelson would have faced a minimum of five years in state prison.