By Steve Mosco
A Flushing middle-school teacher was accused of having a months-long sexual affair with a 14-year-old former student and arrested this week on charges of statutory rape, Queens district attorney said.
Police said Daniel Reilly, 36, was taken into custody at his Forest Hills home and faces a total of 12 counts of rape and seven counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Reilly, who a city Department of Education spokeswoman said was an English teacher at IS 237 in Flushing, allegedly had sex with the minor numerous times in his home.
The married ex-Marine allegedly used cellphone code names to hide the affair from his lawyer wife, with whom he has an 11-month-old daughter, the New York Post reported.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said the suspected sexual relationship went on for nine months and allegedly occurred on multiple occasions between August 2012 and April 2013.
“This case is particularly disturbing,” said Brown. “Schools should be safe havens for children. Instead this defendant is accused of sexually preying upon one of his former students and rendezvousing with her at his residence.”
According to the criminal complaint filed by the DA, Reilly sent his former elementary school pupil text messages in August 2012 asking for sex. The complaint further describes numerous sexually charged encounters involving the girl inside Reilly’s apartment. The last known sexual encounter occurred just days before Reilly was taken into custody, the court papers said.
The affair came to light after the victim’s sister saw the explicit text messages and alerted her parents, according to the district attorney. The victim’s parents then went to school officials and Reilly was pulled from his classroom and arrested.
Bail was set at $30,000 and Reilly was ordered to return to court May 6. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison.
The spokeswoman for the city Department of Education said there were no prior incidents involving Reilly and the teacher was immediately reassigned to an administrative office.
“He is a tenured employee, which means he has due process, which includes a hearing,” the spokeswoman said.
Reach reporter Steve Mosco by e-mail at smosco@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
