Nichole Noel Thiel was acquitted by a 7-woman, 5-man jury of sexual battery of a 16-year-old male student with whom she allegedly had sex in late 2015 and early 2016

An Idaho high school teacher and administrator has been acquitted of sexual battery of a male student after she argued that he was lying to get money.

Nicole Noel Thiel, 48, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, was found not guilty of having sex with the student at her condominium over two years.

Part of the defense's argument for Thiel was that the male student, who remained anonymous, was out for money, reports the Coeur d'Alene Press.

A seven-woman and five-man jury came found her not guilty of the charges.

The jury relayed almost solely on witness testimony due to the absence of physical evidence.

Thiel, a former Lake City High School teacher and Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy administrator, was 46 when she allegedly had sex with a 16-year-old male back in late 2015 and early 2016 at her condominium.

The defense brought up a lawsuit the boy's mother had filed against the Lake Pend Oreille School District and suggested that a guilty verdict would help the mother win the lawsuit.

Jurors also heard about the teenager's prior problems with discipline.

He also told the court that he had wanted to have sex with the woman, who was a culinary arts teacher.

Thiel had been a culinary arts teacher at Lake City High School (pictured) in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

The teenager's accounts of the alleged sexual activity had discrepancies, Thiel's defense further argued.

The county prosecutor urged the jury to stick to the facts of the case and to not consider prior behavior of the teenager.

Thiel's defense attorney, Michael Palmer, summarized the course of the trial: 'In a case like this with a teenage student saying it happened and the teacher denying it, it placed Ms. Thiel in the dilemma of feeling like she had to prove a negative.'

He added: '[The student's] accusation involved an abuse of trust and a registrable sex crime.'

The boy previously said the relationship started after he hugged her because he saw her crying, KXLY reports.