NY teacher sentenced to 25 years for sexually abusing 16-year-old student at special needs school

A New York teacher who sexually abused a 16-year-old student at a special needs school has been sentenced to 25 years in prison, according to authorities.

Sandy Carazas-Pinez, 36, was slapped with the quarter-century sentence and five years of supervised release by US District Judge John P. Cronan on Friday for enticing a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced in a statement.

Between November 2022 and February 2023, Carazas-Pinez, 34, a former New York City public school teacher, led her 16-year-old student at a city-funded Yonkers school for kids with special needs to believe they were in a romantic relationship, prosecutors said.

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She used her cellphone to text, call, and video chat with him to arrange sexual encounters, and forced him to livestream “sexually explicit conduct” while on video calls, authorities added.

“I know for me it isn’t going to be easy, I will miss your kisses, hugs and everything,” Carazas-Pinez allegedly wrote in a discussion of whether she and the boy should “end it,” according to texts previously under review by law enforcement agencies.

The teacher, from Bethel, Connecticut, described the livestreamed sexual encounters to the student as “gifts,” according to prosecutors.

She went so far as to direct the teen to obtain day passes from his school to leave campus and meet her nearby to drive and park in locations around the Bronx, Yonkers, and Staten Island to have sex.

Carazas-Pinez also sent sexually suggestive pictures and texts to the boy, then repeatedly instructed the student to delete them.

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“Sexual exploitation by teachers offends every New Yorker,” Clayton said in a statement.

“Sandy Carazas-Pinez betrayed her role and, through explicit texts and other means, coerced a 16-year-old into a sexual relationship,” he said.

“Actions of this type by anyone, particularly a teacher or other person of trust, will not be tolerated.”

Carazas-Pinez, a married mother of three, was terminated from Biondi School, run by the nonprofit Rising Ground, in March 2023.

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Cronan previously threw Carazas-Pinez behind bars after she violated her bail conditions following her initial arrest.

She was forbidden to have unsupervised contact with any child under the age of 18, but she later emailed another former student a day after he turned 18 to wish him happy birthday.

Her own lawyer called the behavior “troubling” at the time.