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Teacher Fired For "Inappropriate" Relationship With Teen, While Dating Her Mom
By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 25, 2011
Modified Dec 25, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 25, 2011
Modified Dec 25, 2011
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A last-minute entry in this year's pervy teacher contest comes to us from Ozone Park, Queens, where a 44-year-old physical-education teacher has lost his job because of an "inappropriate relationship" with a teenage former student. How inappropriate was it? According to Department of Education documents obtained by the Post, Mr. Gerard Cassidy was a teacher at MS137 America’s School of Heroes in Ozone Park in 2009 when he became very, shall we say, devoted to the unidentified 16-year-old, showering her with gifts—including an iPhone—and allegedly promising to marry her when she came of age. By the way, this was also around the time he was dating her mom.
The scandal came to light after the girl confided in her aunt in the summer of 2009, revealing that she had unprotected sex with Cassidy multiple times a week at his house. She later recanted this allegation, but DOE investigators looking into their relationship discovered enough to warrant firing Cassidy. For starters, phone records reportedly show that Cassidy called the girl on her iPhone (he also paid the monthly bills for it) 53 times between March and July 2009 and sent 383 text messages. Over 100 of those calls occurred between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
But there's a simple explanation for all of this! Both Cassidy and the girl's mom insisted at a DOE hearing that the teacher was merely tutoring the girl, and helping her with her homework. During this time, the Post reports, Cassidy was dating her mother, but often taking both of them to dinner and even to the Hamptons. The girl's aunt told investigators he "was very rich and would give her a house, a car, credit cards and security." And yes, all of this on a phys-ed teacher's salary, which for Cassidy amounted to $83,600-a-year. You can take a minute to let that sink in.
Despite the teen recanting, investigators determined that their relationship was inappropriate enough to terminate Cassidy's employment. “I’m not a teacher no more,” he told a Post who came knocking at his Woodhaven apartment on Friday. "Get off my stoop."
Tagged
DOE
gerard cassidy
phys ed
queens
teacher sex scandal
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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