R’wood Teacher Cuffed For Teen Trysts
Two days after being arrested for her alleged affair with a teenage boy, a Ridgewood high school teacher returned to court on Wednesday, June 3, on charges that she had a rendezvous with another underage student, law enforcement sources announced.
Detectives arrested Joy Morsi, 39, of Massapequa, L.I., who teaches at Grover Cleveland High School at 2120 Himrod St., on Monday, June 2, for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a student that began last June, when he was 16, and continued months thereafter.
Morsi was arraigned on Tuesday, June 3, on 20 counts each of thirddegree rape and criminal sexual act, as well as a single count of endangering the welfare of a child. Queens Criminal Court Judge Ernest Hart released her on $25,000 bail during her arraignment hearing the following day.
Upon further investigation, police arrested the teacher again Wednesday morning on charges that she allegedly had sexual relations with another 16-year-old boy inside Grover Cleveland High School last Saturday, May 31.
She was arraigned Wednesday morning before Judge Hart on two counts of third-degree criminal sexual act and a count of endangering the welfare of a child. The jurist ordered her held on $25,000 bail and to return to court on June 23. If convicted on both charges, Morsi faces up to eight years behind bars.
The Department of Education suspended her following her arrest Monday, it was reported.
“These are serious accusations in which a school teacher-who should serve as a role model to students-is instead accused of using her position to gain access to children for her own gratification,” Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said in a statement Wednesday.
Regarding the first case, according to police, Morsi allegedly began her illicit relationship with the then-16-year-old male student last June continuing through at least July. Reportedly, they had relations in the basement and other areas within Grover Cleveland’s campus, as well as locations outside the school.
Law enforcement sources said the student informed an acquaintance of the tryst, and word eventually spread to parents who notified school officials.
Det. Josephine Lalli of the NYPD Queens Special Victims Squad investigated both cases under the supervision of Sgt. Douglas Bistardi and Chief Michael Osgood.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Melissa Kelly of the DA’s Special Victims Bureau, which is supervised by Assistant District Attorneys Kenneth M. Appelbaum, bureau chief, and Eric C. Rosenbaum and Lucinda C. Suarez, deputy bureau chiefs.
