Teacher admits guilt as sex pervert

A former English teacher at M.S. 137 in Ozone Park has admitted to sending indecent messages and pictures to three of his 12-year-old female students during his first teaching assignment in 2007. He had been hired only months before the incidents.
Umesh Ramjattan, 24, of 115th Street in Richmond Hill, pleaded guilty to disseminating indecent material to minors in the first degree for instant messaging a student from the screen name mrramjattan1@aol.com with questions that were both sexually suggestive and of a personal nature in 2007.
His attorney, Todd Greenberg, told The Courier that he had no comment regarding the case.
The district attorney has said that Ramjattan provided students his email address so that they could ask questions about schoolwork.
According to the charges, on October 3 of that year, he sent the same student (via e-mail from umeshr85@yahoo.com) a video of him and his girlfriend having sexual intercourse.  
It is further charged that a second female student who emailed Ramjattan about her homework began receiving instant messages from him through his AOL account on September 29, 2007 that contained questions of a personal nature – and that, sometime in early October, she received a picture of the defendant in which he was not wearing a shirt. 
Finally, a third female student who emailed him for help with her homework said she began receiving instant messages from the defendant through his AOL account that were both personal and sexual in nature. 
District Attorney Richard A. Brown said that an investigation began when the parents of one of the students notified school authorities that Ramjattan had emailed a sexual video to their daughter. The school, in turn, notified the police.
“A classroom should always be a safe place for a child, and a teacher should never abuse his or her position of trust and influence,” said Brown. “This case should serve as a clear and unmistakable warning that law enforcement is prepared to apprehend and prosecute those who attempt to engage in illicit activity involving children.”
Margie Feinberg, a spokesperson for the Department of Education (DOE), said that Ramjattan, who had no prior criminal record when the DOE ran a background check (as is policy), was terminated.
As part of his plea, Ramjattan, who has been free on $50,000 bail since his arraignment on November 9, 2007, will surrender his New York State teaching license, forfeit his computer  and be required to register as a sex offender.
Sentencing has been set for April 20, at which time the judge indicated that he would likely sentence Ramjattan to five years’ probation – one condition of which would be the successful completion of the sex offenders program he presently attends.  A final order of protection will also be signed for the three victims in the case.