Sexual texts from a female middle school teacher to a 13-year-old male student came to light after a group of students, including the boy, were found to be circulating explicit pictures and videos of the teacher, as well as photos of other girls at Lodi High School.
Teacher Stephanie Carafa, 32, who was very popular among her male students in New Jersey, is accused of sending sexually explicit photos and videos of herself to a 13-year-old boy via Snapchat. Then she asked for photos of the boy.
North Jersey’s USA Today reported that Carafa was charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of aggravated criminal sexual contact after her crimes came to light during a separate investigation involving explicit images of underage girls. The explicit images of underage girls were being circulated by a group of 12 to 15 students in Lodi, New Jersey. As police questioned students on the images, they claimed they also had raunchy pictures and videos of a Thomas Jefferson Middle School school teacher. Investigators then discovered the sexual texts Ms. Carafa sent to a 13-year-old male student, who was among those circulating the explicit images in question.
Police learned about Stephanie Carafa’s texts with the boy through a separate investigation of 12 to 15 students who were reportedly circulating explicit photos of high school girls. During questioning, students claimed they had pictures and videos of a middle school teacher.
Details made public in court Friday revealed that Carafa, accused of groping and sending explicit messages to the 13-year-old, taught the alleged victim in the third, fifth and seventh grades.
Watch it here: CBS New York/Youtube
Asst. prosecutor Kristin DeMarco said: “Naked photos, sexual conversations, and even meetings after school in her classroom did, in fact, occur.”
Carafa is now on paid leave. Her lawyer said the snaps don’t show the teacher’s face and could have been altered or lifted from her cell phone.
She is charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of aggravated criminal sexual contact.
Prosecutors say Carafa allegedly groped the boy and she let the victim fondle her as well. Online, they would have long discussions about her sexual preferences, authorities said.
In addition, the boy saved the dirty videos in a file called “My Eyes Only.” During after-school specials in her classroom, Carafa and the boy would kiss and grope each other, cops said.
The boy confessed to the relationship, and in court, Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Kristin DeMarco alleged that, over the course of four to seven after-school meetings, Carafa called the child into her classroom and asked him to shut the door and close the blinds. There, they would then kiss and touch each other inappropriately, the assistant prosecutor added.
“There’s been no forensic evidence provided whatsoever on where these pictures came from, how they were received,” attorney Frank Carbonetti said. He also alleged that the boy was bragging about the photos to friends and suggested that he and other students helped implicate Carafa to avoid getting in trouble for the inappropriate pictures of their classmates that they allegedly shared.
In addition to suing Carafa, the boy also sued the Board of Education, the former school superintendent, and the former principal of the school, alleging he was a victim of “sexual assault, battery, negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, child endangerment, negligence, breach of constitutional duty and violating the child sexual abuse act” and seeking both actual and punitive damages.
Sources: Taphaps, Toronto Sun, North Jersey
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