NEWARK — A Maplewood teacher accused of sexually assaulting six male students is looking to dismiss some of the charges against her.

After being indicted in February on 40 counts of aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child, Nicole Dufault has filed a motion to dismiss the child endangerment charges, according to her attorney, Timothy Smith.

Dufault also is pursuing a motion to sever the charges in order for her to face separate trials in connection with each of the alleged victims, Smith said.

"We have a legal obligation to make the motions if there's a legitimate legal issue there and we do think that there's a legitimate legal issue there," Smith said on Monday after a brief hearing about the case. Smith declined further comment on the motions.

A language arts teacher at Columbia High School, Dufault, 35, of Caldwell, is accused of engaging in sexual activity with the six students on multiple occasions between 2013 and 2014, prosecutors said. Some of the sex acts occurred on school property and in her car, prosecutors said.

The students were between 14 and 15 years old at the time of the incidents, prosecutors said.

The evidence against Dufault allegedly includes a video of her performing oral sex on one of the victims, according to Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Gina Iosim, who is handling the case. The video shows Dufault performing the sex act on one of the victims while another victim is present, Iosim said.

But Smith has repeatedly claimed Dufault - a single mother of two young sons - is the victim in the case.

Prosecutors have extended a plea offer to Dufault that includes a recommended 15-year prison sentence in exchange for her guilty plea to certain counts, Iosim said.

Dufault would have to serve nearly 13 years before becoming eligible for parole, Iosim said. Under the plea agreement, Dufault also would face parole supervision for life and she would have to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law, Iosim said.

Bill Wichert may be reached at bwichert@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillWichertNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.