A former New York City high school teacher, Lennard Persaud, allegedly engaged in years of non-consensual sexual intercourse with a student starting in 2014, when she was 16 years old, a report from the city’s Special Commissioner of Investigation (SCI) states. The report details that Persaud, who taught at John Adams High School in Queens, also sent “vile text messages” to the student over a two-year period.
Investigators began looking into the allegations in April 2023, nearly a decade after the assaults allegedly occurred, after receiving a tip from a whistleblower who the student had confided in. According to the report, the first alleged incident involved Persaud driving the student to pick up food, parking in an alley, and assaulting her. The student reportedly attempted to fight him off, screaming for him to stop and to take her home.
In another alleged incident in 2015, Persaud, then 51, reportedly drove the student to a casino parking lot, sat her on his lap, and raped her while she pleaded for him to stop.
Persaud, who began teaching in New York City Schools in 1998 and was earning $140,794 in 2024, was reassigned during the SCI investigation. He was criminally charged in June 2023 with felony third-degree rape and criminal sex act charges, as well as misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child and sexual abuse charges.
However, Persaud ultimately pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. The Queens District Attorney's office has not provided a reason for the plea deal.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education stated, "Nothing is more important than the safety and well-being of our students, and the behavior described in this case is deeply disturbing, and a profound betrayal of the trust placed in educators."