A former teacher at Biondi High School in Yonkers has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for enticing a student into a sexual relationship that began with touching in her classroom even though she knew there was a working surveillance camera there.
The sentence for Sandy Carazas-Pinez, 36, of Bethel, Conn., was handed down Friday, Sept. 19, by U.S. District Judge John Cronan in Manhattan federal court.
"Sandy Carazas-Pinez betrayed her role and, through explicit texts and other means, coerced a 16-year-old into a sexual relationship," U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement. "Actions of this type by anyone, particularly a teacher or other person of trust, will not be tolerated."
As previously reported, Carazas-Pinez was arrested in July 2023 following her indictment and pleaded guilty in December 2024 to enticement of a minor into illegal sexual activity. She faced a minimum of 10 years and sentencing guidelines that Cronan had to consider but was not bound by called for 24 to 30 years in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitzi Steiner requested a guideline prison term, writing in her sentencing memo that Carazas-Pinez' crime was "an extreme perversion of her position of power and authority."
Carazas-Pinez Told the Victim They Could Not Engage in More Explicit Acts in Class Because There was a Camera
Carazas-Pinez taught at Biondi, a private special education school, from December 2021 until February 2023. According to court documents, the boy began expressing a romantic interest in Carazas-Pinez in November 2022 but she rebuffed him, saying it would be "super illegal."
But by the following month she was asking him in texts about his sex life and sending him sexually explicit pictures of herself and asking him to do the same. In class, they would sit close together and touch each other over their clothes.
"I do miss your touch and kisses not going to lie. I also miss seeing you masturbate, I sound like a pervert," Sandy Casarez-Pinez wrote in one of the text messages she sent to the victim.
Carazas-Pinez told him they could not engage in more explicit conduct because of the camera, texting him on Jan. 4, 2023, "OK I wanted to kiss them lips lol" and "Sucks our classroom camera works lol."
Carazas-Pinez Then Engaged in Sexual Intercourse with the Student in Her Car
She then started meeting him off-campus — telling him to get a day pass to be able to leave school — where she would pick him up nearby and drive him to locations where they would engage in sexual intercourse in her car.
Whenever the teenager hesitated about continuing their sexual relationship, Carazas-Pinez would get him to comply by claiming she was in an abusive relationship and would harm herself if he didn't.
Carazas-Pinez Even Threatened to Give Victim Low Grades If He Ended the Relationship
She also threatened to give him low grades or prevent him from participating in school activities he enjoyed. She also claimed her brother was a detective so she would not get into trouble for her crimes. She made up excuses for their close relationship when confronted by staff members in February 2023 but was soon fired.
Defense lawyer Mario Gallucci requested a 15-year prison term, insisting that the crimes committed by her client was a result of her "unaddressed childhood traumas."
