Richmond Hill man sexually abused five students

A former biology teacher at Cathedral High School in Manhattan has been sentenced to one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years in state prison for sexually abusing five of his former students. All of the attacks took place in Queens after school hours.
“Although the defendant admitted to being a sexual predator who took advantage of his students when he pleaded guilty, he displayed no such contrition for his actions at sentencing,” said District Attorney Richard A. Brown. “In fact, he shocked seasoned prosecutors and court officials, as well as his victims and their families, by stating to the packed courtroom that his behavior was not a crime in other parts of the world.”
Brown continued, “He stated that he intended to return to Trinidad upon the completion of his prison sentence. Hopefully, the defendant will never be allowed to teach in a classroom anywhere in the world again because he clearly shows no concern for the children he chose to victimize. They showed great courage in coming forward and helping to send the defendant to prison.”
Richard Ali, 28, of 91-48 115th Street in Richmond Hill had been employed as a teacher at Cathedral High School, a Catholic college preparatory school for young women located at 350 East 56th Street in Manhattan, until his arrest last year.
He pleaded guilty on January 8 to one count of second-degree rape, two counts of third-degree rape and two counts of third-degree sexual abuse before Queens Supreme Court Justice James P. Griffin, who told Ali that he was a “parent’s worst nightmare” just before imposing the sentence.
According to the charges, Ali statutorily raped a female student under the age of 16 at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 1, 2005, and then sexually abused her six days later on the afternoon of Thursday, April 7. The defendant was further charged with sexually abusing a second underage female student at 3 p.m. on Friday, November 10, 2006, and then statutorily raping and molesting her the following day and once again eight days later on Saturday, November 18. In addition, Ali was charged with the statutory rape of one student in January 2007 and the sexual abuse of another student on February 3, 2007.