NEW YORK: A Queens middle-school teacher, Lalsingh Narainsingh, was charged Dec 5, with sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy after school hours. The 48-year-old Lalsingh taught at Springfield Gardens Intermediate School 59, and has been charged with second-degree criminal sexual act, third-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said that, according to the charges, Narainsingh molested a 14-year-old male student in June 2004 after offering to pay him $20 for oral sex. Narainsingh allegedly lured the boy back to an empty classroom after school had recessed for the day by requesting his help in cleaning up.

Once back in the classroom, it is alleged that the defendant sexually abused the student. Lalsingh faces up to 7 years in prison. District Attorney Brown said, "The charges are very disturbing. A classroom should always be a safe place for a child. If true, this teacher destroyed his student’s trust." A resident of Hollis section of Queens, Narainsingh is presently awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court in Kew Gardens on charges of second-degree criminal sexual act, third-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.

The alleged abuse case came to light when the victim revealed what had happened to his mother, who contacted police. The investigation was conducted by Detective Toni Esposito and Detective Doug Conners, of the New York Police Department’s Queens Special Victims Squad, under the supervision of Lieutenant Arthur Hall.

Assistant District Attorney Debra Bresnahan, who is assigned to the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau, is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Marjory D. Fisher, Bureau Chief, and Kenneth M. Appelbaum and Lucinda C. Suarez, Deputy Bureau Chiefs, and under 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. A press release from the District Attorney Brown, however stresses that a criminal complaint is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.