A Brooklyn math teacher is awaiting trial on $1 million bail after sending a picture of his genitals to a 16-year-old student. The teacher at Brooklyn Technical High School, identified as Sean Shaynak, 44, was jailed in Rikers Island after being charged with sexual abuse of six students, according to the New York Daily News.
The photograph, sent through SnapChat, was the final incident in a long series of sexual advances towards his students starting in October 2011. Shaynak allegedly gave students that he liked perfect grades in exchange for performing various sexual acts, including intercourse. He is also charged with asking two students to engage in sex with each other and giving minors cigarettes and alcohol in an attempt to groom his victims. The victims, ranging in age from 13 to 19, were assaulted during a three year period from 2011 to 2014.
Commenting on the case, Kings County District Attorney Kenneth P. Thompson said, “It is shocking that a public high school teacher allegedly sexually preyed on vulnerable students. We will now seek to vindicate the rights of those students.”
In addition to the charge for sending the lewd picture, Shaynak was also charged on September 30 with 36 additional counts, which included criminal sexual acts and kidnapping. Shaynak was hired in 2008 to teach at the Brooklyn Technical High School, despite a report that in 2005 he beat then 11-year old Devonte Watson, his next-door neighbor at the time, so badly that the boy’s family filed a restraining order against the teacher.
In a statement to reporters, Shaynak said, “I will tell my side of the story in court.” Despite the allegations, Shaynak remains, earning his $52,744 salary. In response to this, Department of Education spokesperson Devora Kane told the Gothamist that, “These alleged actions are incredibly disturbing. The DOE has started the mandatory legal process to have Mr. Shaynak fired, and he’s already received a discontinuance notice. We are vigorously pursuing his termination. As soon as these allegations emerged, the DOE removed Mr. Shaynak from the classroom so that he was not, and would never be, in contact with students. Student safety remains our top priority.”
Shaynak pleaded not guilty to the charges during the September 30 hearing and has a nine-year old daughter from a previous marriage.