By Steve Mosco
A former Flushing public school teacher who carried out a torrid affair inside his Forest Hills home with a female student half his age, pleaded guilty Monday to statutory rape, the Queens district attorney said.
“The defendant has admitted to sexually taking advantage of one of his former students — a 14-year-old girl,” said District Attorney Richard Brown. “As a teacher and an adult, the defendant was in a position of power to know better. Children should be able to remain children.”
Daniel Reilly, 36, a former sixth-grade English teacher at IS 237 in Flushing, pleaded guilty to second-degree rape, the DA said. In pleading guilty, Reilly admitted to engaging in sexual intercourse with the former student at his residence in April 2013, Brown said.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 22 and Reilly is expected to receive six months in jail and 10 years’ probation. Reilly will also be required to surrender his teaching license and register on the state’s sex offenders registry.
“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,” said Brown.
Brown said the sexual relationship went on for nine months and occurred on multiple occasions at Reilly’s Forest Hills home between August 2012 and April 2013.
According to the criminal complaint filed by the DA in April, 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 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.
A spokeswoman for the city Department of Education said there were no prior incidents involving Reilly.
Reach reporter Steve Mosco by e-mail at smosco@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
