QUEENS, NY — A Queens teacher’s year-long sexual abuse and “rape” of a 14-year-old boy should have been prevented by city schools officials, according to a new lawsuit by the child’s mother.
Negligence by Department of Education officials allowed Corona Arts & Sciences Academy teacher Melissa Rockensies, 33, to groom and sexually abuse the boy, including during school hours, the complaint filed Monday in Queens civil court contends.
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The lawsuit — which seeks an undefined amount of damages — aims to hold school officials responsible for keeping children safe, said the mother’s attorney Jonathan Cooper.
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“It’s really when we entrust our kids to the school, we would hope at a bare minimum that they wouldn’t be statutorily raped,” he said.
A city law department spokesperson said the lawsuit will be reviewed. They declined further comment on the case while it’s pending.
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Police arrested Rockensies, who has pleaded not guilty in an ongoing sex crime case, in August on accusations that she abused one of her students.
Rockensies, a married middle school dean who once shared a Facebook post about how to help “kids understand consent,” began grooming the then-14-year-old boy by electronic communications in July 2022, the lawsuit states. Their interactions culminated in sexual acts over the course of a year, according to the lawsuit.
“These acts occurred regularly – about four times a week – inside the automobile of Ms. Rockensies in an area immediately adjacent to Corona Arts, including during school hours,” the lawsuit states.
The statutory rape was the direct result of school officials’ negligence, the lawsuit contends.
Rockensies faces a charge of acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17.
Her next court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 6, records show.
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