By Ivan Pereira
A former Jamaica middle school teacher who admitted to having an affair with one of her teen students is now the subject of a lawsuit filed by the boy and his mother.
The victim, who asked not to be identified, filed the assault and battery suit against Melissa Weber in Queens Civil Court July 22, according to court documents. Weber pleaded guilty last year to second-degree rape for the four-month affair she had with the student while teaching social studies at Middle School 8 at 108-35 167th St.
Although she was sentenced to time served and is on probation, the 15-year-old victim and his mother claim in the lawsuit that the 28-year-old instructor caused “severe and serious injury” and the city Department of Education did nothing to stop it from happening.
“The plaintiff has been damaged in an amount that exceeds the jurisdictional limits of all other courts,” the lawsuit read.
Weber, who lived on Long Island during her time at MS 8, has not been teaching in the city since the arrest, according to DOE officials. She could not be reached for comment.
She was one of several teachers who led protests against the school’s principal, John Murphy, who was accused of harassing instructors at MS 8 last year. A few weeks after Murphy resigned from his position, Weber was arrested after the victim’s mother discovered several text messages between her son and the teacher where they talked about their trysts.
One of the texts instructed the boy to “erase his phone” so that she would not be caught, according to investigators.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
