The Queens Special Victims Squad arrested a former parochial schoolteacher from Long Island to close a cold case investigation into an incident that occurred more than a decade ago.
Jeffrey Connelly, 36, of Meadowbrook Lane in Valley Stream, was taken into custody on Jan. 22 and booked at the 102nd Precinct in Richmond Hill, where he was charged for a sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child incident of a 14-year-old girl inside the St. Mary Gate of Heaven Church in Ozone Park in 2015.
Connelly was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Jan. 23 on a complaint charging him with sexual abuse in the third degree.
According to the criminal complaint, on June 14, 2015, inside the church at 103-12 101st Ave., Connelly kissed his 14-year-old student on her lips, pressed his body against her, and pressed his penis against her leg. Connelly was 25 years old and a teacher at the St. Mary Gate of Heaven Catholic Academy at 104-06 101st Ave., around the block from the church.
The Diocese of Brooklyn, which includes Queens, fired Connelly soon after learning of the misconduct.
“Mr. Connelly was serving as a teacher at Mary Gate of Heaven at the time of the incident and was terminated when the Diocese learned of the incident. He has not been employed by the Diocese of Brooklyn since September 2015,” Diocese of Brooklyn spokesman John Quaglione said Tuesday. “Since that time, Mr. Connelly has been flagged in our system to ensure he is not eligible for hire in the Diocese.”
Connelly pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and was granted supervised release, as the charge is not bail eligible. He was released on his own recognizance with a temporary order of protection and ordered to return to court on March 18.
The Queens Special Victims Squad is asking any other of his victims to come forward by calling the NYPD’s Sex Crimes Hotline at 1-212-267-RAPE (7273) or the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are strictly confidential.
