THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005

D.A. BROWN: GYM TEACHER CHARGED WITH REPEATEDLY SEXUALLY ABUSING STUDENT OVER THREE YEAR PERIOD
Faces Up To Seven Years In Prison

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown today announced that a gym teacher at Paul Robeson Business and Technical High School in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn has been charged with repeatedly and regularly sexually assaulting a juvenile female student over a three-year period beginning when the victim was 14 years old. The crimes allegedly took place at the defendant’s residence in Queens or the home of a family member, also in Queens.

District Attorney Brown said, “As a teacher entrusted with the custody, care and education of young students, the defendant is accused of crossing the line separating teachers and students by engaging in a sexual relationship with a vulnerable female minor.”

The District Attorney identified the defendant as Lawrence Major, 45, of 170-20 130 Avenue, Jamaica, Queens. Major has been charged with Rape in the Second Degree, Rape in the Third Degree and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison and would also have to register as a sex offender.

District Attorney Brown said that, according to the criminal charges, on a nearly monthly basis between December 31, 2001 and April 30, 2005, the defendant sexually assaulted the victim at either his or his sister’s residence. The victim was a student at the same high school at which the defendant taught.

The incident came to light when the victim confided in a friend who notified authorities.

According to the District Attorney, the defendant was arrested yesterday by Detective Antoin N. Malloy, of the New York Police Department’s Queens Special Victims Squad and arraigned early this morning before Queens Criminal Court Judge Steven W. Paynter, who set bail in the amount of $25,000 and a return date of October 12, 2005.

Assistant District Attorney Kenneth M. Appelbaum, Deputy Bureau Chief of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau, is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Marjory D. Fisher, Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Charles A. Testagrossa and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Daniel A. Saunders.

It should be noted that criminal charges are merely accusations and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.