(The Lion) — A New York City teacher is facing two-and-a-half decades behind bars after she was convicted of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student at the special needs school where she taught.
Sandy Carazas-Pinez, 36, was sentenced to 25 years in prison and five years supervised release last week, The New York Post reported.
The married mother of three reportedly had the affair from November 2022 to February 2023, singling out the boy for attention and then arranging sexual encounters at locations across the Bronx, Yonkers – where the Biondi School is located – and Staten Island. She also forced the youth to stream “sexually explicit conduct” on video calls, calling them “gifts,” a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Carazas-Pinez, of Bethel, Connecticut, directed the youth to obtain day passes from school so they could meet up for sex. She also asked him repeatedly to delete sexually explicit photographs and messages after they were viewed. She was terminated by the school in March of 2023.
“Sexual exploitation by teachers offends every New Yorker,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Sandy Carazas-Pinez betrayed her role and, through explicit texts and other means, coerced a 16-year-old into a sexual relationship. Actions of this type by anyone, particularly a teacher or other person of trust, will not be tolerated.”
In an unrelated case, a first-grade teacher at another New York City school was arrested and charged with possessing child pornography.
According to the Post, Christopher Ward, 37, allegedly shared hundreds of photos and videos over at least the last year while he was teaching at Hunters Point Elementary School in Queens.
Ward’s family recorded him confessing to the conduct and turned him in to officials, prosecutors said.
“Every day, Christopher Ward stood at the front of a classroom of first graders while allegedly storing hundreds of images exploiting children just like them,” District Attorney Clayton said. “The women and men of our Office are committed to ridding New York of child pornography. Together with our partners at Homeland Security Investigations and the New York City Police Department Special Investigations Unit, we will aggressively pursue and prosecute those who create, possess, and distribute child pornography.”
Ward, of Farmingdale, New York, is charged with one count of receiving and distributing material containing child pornography, including files containing sexually explicit images of minors, and one count of possessing child pornography, including images and videos of prepubescent minors and minors who had not attained 12 years of age. Both counts carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Prior to Hunters Point, he worked at Academy of St. Joseph in Manhattan, a Catholic school, for three years, the Post reported.
Ward has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He is due in court again on Oct. 2.
(Image credit: Facebook/Sandy Carazas-Pinez)
