F.H. Man Faces Jail For Sex With Fmr. Student
After admitting in court on Monday, May 20, to having an extramarital affair with an underage former student, a teacher from Forest Hills faces jail time and the end of his career, law enforcement sources announced.
Daniel Reilly, 36, of Yellowstone Boulevard-who taught a sixthgrade English class at I.S. 237 in Flushing before his Apr. 8 arrest- pled guilty on Monday to a seconddegree rape charge for his tryst with a then-14-year-old girl.
Queens Criminal Court Judge Gia Morris accepted Reilly’s plea and ordered him to return to court on July 22 for sentencing. Reilly will likely be ordered to serve six months behind bars and 10 years’ probation, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.
As part of his guilty plea, Brown noted, Reilly will also be forced to surrender his teaching license and add his name to the state’s sex offender registry.
“[Reilly] has admitted to sexually taking advantage of one of his former students-a 14-year-old girl. As a teacher and an adult, the defendant was in a position of power to know better,” Brown said in a statement on Monday. “Children should be able to remain children. This case should serve as a clear and unmistakable warning that law enforcement is prepared under any circumstances to apprehend and prosecute sexual predators who betray and defile youngsters.”
As previously reported, the affair between Reilly and the 14-year-old girl began in August 2012, when the teacher sent his former student a text message in which he expressed a desire to engage in sexual relations with the girl.
Prosecutors charged that Reilly and the 14-year-old girl met at his Forest Hills residence on 10 different occasions for sexual encounters dating back to August. The relationship was reportedly uncovered in April by the girl’s sister, who saw explicit messages on the victim’s phone.
Soon after the sister showed the messages to her parents, school officials at I.S. 237 were notified. Educators contacted the Department of Education’s Special Commissioner of Investigation, and an inquiry was launched by the NYPD Queens Special Victims Squad.
Following questioning, Reilly was charged on Apr. 8 with four counts of second-degree rape, two counts of second-degree criminal sexual act, six counts of third-degree sexual abuse and one count of endangering the welfare of a child.
Det. Josephine Lalli of the NYPD Queens Special Victims Squad conducted the investigation under the supervision of Sergeants Douglas R. Biscardi and Anthony Pignataro.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Lauren R. Parson and Lucinda C. Suarez of the DA’s Special Victims Bureau, which is supervised by Assistant District Attorneys Marjory D. Fisher, bureau chief.
