Former McHenry teacher receives court supervision for 2019 child endangerment

A 37-year-old Wonder Lake woman and former special education teacher accused of allowing her children to live in a home with loaded guns and no food has pleaded guilty to child endangerment.

Jennifer A. Lamb, of the 7800 block of East Maplewood Drive, accepted a plea deal on Sept. 17 and pleaded guilty to a single count of child endangerment. In exchange, Lamb was sentenced to one year of court supervision and will be required to take parenting classes, court records show. She also is barred from consuming drugs or alcohol while she completes her sentence.

“Jennifer Lamb was struck in her late 30s with a mental health issue,” her attorney Philip Prossnitz said in an email Monday. “She has, with the assistance of the court system, aggressively addressed her issues and is on a path to recovery and re-integration with her children.”

Had Lamb “been stricken with a physical disease,” she might have had the public’s sympathy, Prossnitz said.

“It’s unfortunate that we assign moral responsibility when people are unexpectedly stricken with a mental health problem,” Prossnitz said. “She is a highly educated, successful woman without any prior criminal history. She’s doing fine.”

Lamb, who worked at Parkland School at the time of her arrest, no longer is employed by the school district, McHenry Elementary School District 15 administrative assistant Cindee Nootbaar confirmed in an email Monday.

Lamb was out on sick leave when police arrested her in November 2020, Noorbaar said at the time.

The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office alleged in a November 2020 criminal complaint that Lamb and her husband, Jason Lamb, allowed their children to live in dangerous and unhealthy conditions.

The Department of Children and Family Services immediately removed the children from the home and placed them with a family member, police said at the time.

Jason Lamb additionally is accused of choking a young boy and faces charges of child endangerment, domestic battery, reckless conduct and aggravated domestic battery. Jason Lamb’s case is ongoing, and he is scheduled to appear in court again on Oct. 22.