A federal judge threw a teacher accused of sexually abusing a mentally ill student behind bars after finding she violated strict bail conditions and poses “a real danger to the community.”
Sandy Carazas-Pinez, 34, a former NYC public school teacher, is charged with engaging in multiple sexual acts in her car with a 16-year-old boy — one of her students at a city-funded Yonkers school for kids with special needs — and producing child porn.
It is one of the most horrific cases of sexual abuse by a New York educator in recent history.
Brooklyn federal judge John Cronan revoked Carazas-Pinez’ bail after finding she repeatedly breached conditions of her home confinement.
She was arrested in July and released on bail, but forbidden to have unsupervised contact with any child under the age of 18.
The married mother of three later emailed another former student a day after he turned 18 to wish him happy birthday.
While technically not a violation, “it seems to fly in the face of the spirit of the conditions,” Cronan said in a hearing, a transcript shows. Prosecutors said it fit the teacher’s “pattern of grooming” a student for sex. Her own lawyer called the behavior “troubling.”
Calling her “a real danger to the community,” the judge warned Carazas-Pinez to comply with the rules or he’d lock her up.
Last month, he learned of multiple violations cited by pre-trial supervisors, including stops at a mall and Applebee’s restaurant while on strictly limited outings.
She obtained permission to pick up a paycheck and cash it.
Instead, she went to a restaurant and bar on Staten Island, then to a wooded area, GPS tracking showed.
She admitted using the check-cashing request “as a pretense” after a dispute in her parents’ home, where she was staying after her husband kicked her out.
“In other words, she lied,” the judge concluded.
Carazas-Pinez was sent to the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn on April 15.
The victim’s mother, whose name is being withheld by The Post to protect his privacy, is relieved.
“She’s a very disturbed individual, and I’m glad she no longer has access to children — especially mine,” she said.
Carazas-Pinez taught at the Biondi School, which the mentally disabled 16-year-old attended at the city DOE’s expense.
It is run by the nonprofit Rising Ground, which fired her in March 2023 after seeing the teacher with the student in her car.
Previously, Carazas-Pinez taught at PS/MS 007 in Harlem, and PS/IS 218 in The Bronx.
