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Multiple cases of sexual abuse and inappropriate behavior have been documented by female teachers in the Big Apple in recent years, according to a report from the New York Post.
One example of teachers behaving badly includes, Natalie Black, a 27-year-old teacher at the Hillside Arts and Letters Academy in Queens, allegedly sending multiple suggestive photos to students.
The Post reports that those photos showed Black in either lingerie or completely naked – with her vagina visible. The sexting began in late 2021. The victim was a 17-year-old student.
Black was interviewed by the NYPD but never faced charges.
Natalie Black pictured after winning the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in 2017
The intervention of New York’s Finest didn’t stop Black — in March 2022 she allegedly showed a photo of her genitals to a student. On another occasion, Black was in a student’s home when she took her pants down and allegedly said: ‘Eat my a**.’
The sexting didn’t stop either, Black also sent a video of her ‘deep-throating’ a liquor bottle and another video her dancing while half-naked, the Post reports.
The Post says Black’s behavior was never made public by the Hillside Arts and Letters Academy, meaning that parents were kept in the dark about her conduct.
A Department of Education spokesperson said Black was ‘removed’ from her teaching position. The Post said Black hasn’t co-operated with investigations into her behavior.
On her LinkedIn page, she’s still listed as working as a special education teacher within the Department of Education. She is a graduate of SUNY and Brooklyn College.
Black writes on her page: ‘In greater attempts, it is even glorious to fail.’
In 2017, while a student at SUNY Purchase, Black won the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence.
The award is issued for students who excel in both academics and extra-curricular activities. During her time at the school, Black was the co-captain of the SUNY Purchase step team and was on the Dean’s list for three straight years.
Black was known for her musical talents while in college, performing a singer-songwriter at her church and on campus.
Makita Brooks-Stanton is a paraprofessional at PS 160 Walter Francis Bishop in the Jamaica section of Queens
In another instance, a paraprofessional at PS 160 Walter Francis Bishop in the Jamaica section of Queens, Makita Brooks-Stanton, broadcast her breast exam at a doctor’s office to her pre-K students via Google Meet.
A concerned mother told the Post: ‘She even had the doctor say hi to the class on Google Meet.’ The flashing went on for around two minutes. It was a concerned mother who was in the classroom and had to shut down the broadcast.
She added: ‘I felt really bad when I registered the complaint. I think this was just a poor judgment call on her part.’
That parent also said Brooks remains employed at PS 160.
The flashing went on for around two minutes. It was a concerned mother who was in the classroom in PS 160, shown here, who had to shut down the broadcast
Another teacher, Danielle Medellin, then 24, was accused of exchanging 5,500 ‘sexual-tension’ filled texts with an 11th-grade student in her math class at Manhattan’s Institute for Collaborative Education. She resigned before she could be fired, the Post reported.
According to Medellin’s LinkedIn page, she now works as a data analyst with the New York Times – a role she has been in since August 2020.
Since the publication of the Post’s article on October 8, Medellin deleted her LinkedIn page.
On that page, Medellin said she was ‘inspired by her students’ during her time teaching, but left her role at the Institute of Collaborative Education in September 2019.
Medellin is a graduate of New York University.
According to Danielle Medellin’s LinkedIn page, she now works as a data analyst with the New York Times. A role she has been in since August 2020
On her LinkedIn page, Medellin said she was ‘inspired by her students’ during her time teaching
Medellin taught here at Manhattan’s Institute of Collaborative Education, alongside another teacher who behaved badly, Juliana Garofalo
In another instance of a teacher gone wild, then 31-year-old teacher Michelle Zak ‘engaged in an inappropriate relationship’ with not one but two of her students at the Queens High School of Teaching, Liberal Arts, and Sciences.
Zak is accused of having students over for sleepovers and smoking marijuana with them. Following an investigation, Zak was transferred to an office job within the Department of Education.
At the time of writing, Zak works as a private tutor. During her time working in Queens, Zak was a special education teacher and also taught public speaking. One of her skills on the page is listed as ‘Student Engagement.’
She is a graduate of Binghamton University and Touro University. Zak calls herself an ‘Innovative Learning Specialist reshaping the future of education and training.’
In a 2014 blog post, Zak wrote about her education philosophy, saying: ‘How are you going to connect with your students throughout the year if you don’t know their situation or what they’re all about?’
She wrote in she is the daughter of Russian immigrants.
31-year-old teacher Michelle Zak ‘engaged in an inappropriate relationship’ with not one but two of her students at the Queens High School of Teaching, Liberal Arts, and Sciences
At the time of writing, Zak works as a private tutor. During her time working in Queens, Zak was a special education teacher and also taught public speaking
In 2018, Juliana Garofalo, also a teacher at the Institute for Collaborative Education, confessed to co-workers that she had a sexual relationship with a student. At the time she was 33.
She later quit her job and took a role at the Pinnacle School in Greenwich, Connecticut. When they found out about her previous activities in New York, she was let go for that role.
In return, Garofalo sued the Department of Education. Her lawsuit was thrown out by New York’s State Supreme Court in December 2021. A judge said Garofalo’s actions was ‘utterly disqualifying’ from a position in education.
The Center for Sex Offender Management, which is under the control of the Department of Justice, says that women account for around 10 percent of sex crimes in the general population.
In the case of teacher-related sex crimes, 30 percent of offenders are women.
In May 2022, Fox News reported that 135 teachers had been charged with sex crimes this year alone. Of that, 105 of those are male and 30 are female.
The director of outreach for Parents Defending Education, Erika Sanzi, told the network: ‘Educator sexual abuse is a major problem that largely gets ignored because it’s so uncomfortable to talk about.’
She added: ‘While a very small fraction of educators and school employees prey on the children in their care, one bad actor can do damage to many students.’
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