By Rich Bockmann
A former eighth-grade teacher at Jamaica’s Susan B. Anthony School is facing a six-month prison sentence after he pleaded guilty last Thursday to having inappropriate sexual contact with a 13-year-old female student, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown announced.
Charles Oross, 45, entered a guilty plea Sept. 6 to one count of committing a sexual act in the second degree, which is a sexual act other than intercourse with a person under the age of 15.
A spokeswoman for the city Department of Education said Oross was suspended without pay after his arrest.
The maximum sentence for a Class D felony such as this is seven years, but according to the district attorney’s office, State Supreme Court Justice Richard Buchter indicated he would sentence Oross, who lives in East Islip, L.I., to up to six months in jail and 10 years’ probation Oct. 8.
Oross will also have to register as a sex offender, participate in a sex-offender treatment program and pay a $1,000 supplemental sex-offender fee, according to the DA’s office.
He also surrendered his teacher’s license and resigned as part of his plea agreement with the DA’s office, according to the DOE.
A representative for the DA’s office said Oross was given the opportunity to plead guilty in order to spare his young victim the ordeal of testifying at trial.
“The plea and proposed sentence were discussed with the victim and her family prior to today’s court appearance and they were in total agreement with the proposed outcome of this case,” the representative said. “The defendant is now a convicted felon and will be sentenced to six months of incarceration and 10 years of probation at his next court appearance. He will also have to register with the state as a sex offender for the next 20 years and must successfully complete a sex offender treatment program. Under the circumstances, the proposed sentence is appropriate.”
Brown said Oross admitted to engaging in one sexual act with his young victim in 2009.
When he was arrested in December, Oross was arraigned on charges of second-degree rape — or intercourse with someone under 15 — and accused of engaging in sexual activity with the young girl on multiple occasions between January 2009 and April 2010.
A grand jury indicted him only on the lesser sexual-act charge.
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
