Bethel Woman Sentenced To 25 Years For Enticing Student Into Sexual Relationship

BETHEL, CT — A former teacher from Bethel was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for enticing a student into a sexual relationship, prosecutors said Monday.

Sandy Carazas-Pinez, 36, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan, who also accepted her guilty plea, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. In addition to prison time, she was ordered to serve five years of supervised release.

According to court documents, Carazas-Pinez abused her position as a high school teacher at a school for troubled kindergarten through 12th grade students located in Yonkers. Between November 2022 and February 2023, she used her role to pursue a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student.

Prosecutors said she contacted the student repeatedly by text, phone, and video calls, encouraging sexual activity and persuading the teenager to engage in sexually explicit conduct during live video calls. In messages, she referred to these acts as “gifts," according to court documents.

Carazas-Pinez also sent the student sexually suggestive photos and messages, then instructed the teen to delete them, the court documents said.

To meet the student off campus, prosecutors said Carazas-Pinez instructed the teen to obtain day passes from the school. She then picked up the student near the school and drove to various locations in the Bronx, Yonkers, and Staten Island, where she engaged in sexual activity in her car, prosecutors said.