Former Queens Teacher Pleads Guilty To Statutory Rape
A former sixth grade English teacher has pleaded guilty to the statutory rape of a 13-year-old student.
Daniel Reilly accepted a plea deal that would place him under protective custody at Rikers for six months. Once he is released, the 36-year-old will be required to attend sex offender therapy classes. He will remain on probation for 10 years and has surrendered his teaching license. Reilly was given the deal partly to spare the victim, who is now 14, from having to testify. He was also allowed to take two bottles of an unknown prescription medication with him.
Reilly, who taught at Intermediate School 237 in Flushing, Queens, had sex with the student several times in his Forest Hills home while his wife and baby daughter were away. The two used code words in their text messages to cover up the affair. This continued as recently as last month until the girl’s sister found sexually explicit messages and informed authorities.
“Like other politicians and public figures, he strayed and only thought with the lower half of his body. It was a mistake,” one of Reilly’s lawyers, Eric Franz, said.
Reilly and his 28-year-old wife Annemarie exchanged long kisses just minutes before he accepted the deal. Annemarie Reilly posted $30,000 bail for her husband when he was first arrested on April 9 — the last day of his affair with his student. She was also with him at a previous court hearing. The couple is reportedly moving to Nassau County once Reilly is released in order to start a new life.
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said Reilly will be sentenced on July 22.
“This case should serve as a clear and unmistakable warning that law enforcement is prepared under any circumstances to apprehend and prosecute sexual predators who betray and defile youngsters,” Brown said.
David Reilly was honorably discharged from the Marines in 2000, after serving in the Aircraft Maintenance Administration for five years.
Do you think David Reilly should have gotten a longer sentence than six months?
