A female teacher was arrested after she allegedly sent naked photos of herself to a boy, who she taught in the third grade, and the images got passed around the school. But, that’s not the worst of it.
Stephanie Carafa (Photo Credit: Bergen County Sheriff’s Office)
Stephanie Carafa — a 32-year-old teacher who “was very popular among her male students in New Jersey,” according to The Toronto Sun — was charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of aggravated criminal sexual contact after her crimes came to light during a separate investigation involving explicit images of underage girls, North Jersey’s USA Today reported.
The explicit images of underage girls were being circulated by a group of 12 to 15 students in Lodi, New Jersey. As police questioned students on the images, they claimed they also had raunchy pictures and videos of a Thomas Jefferson Middle School school teacher. Investigators then discovered the sexual texts Ms. Carafa sent to a 13-year-old male student, who was among those circulating the explicit images in question.
Ms. Carafa — the daughter of Lodi’s longtime mayor, who’s also an elementary school principal in the Lodi School District where his daughter taught, according to Heavy — was placed on paid leave. She was eventually arrested, accused of not only sending explicit photos and videos of herself to the boy but also of having sexual contact with him, including groping him and allowing him to fondle her as well.
According to the arrest warrant, along with sharing multiple naked and scantily clad images and videos of herself with the child, Carafa allegedly touched him sexually over his clothes and allowed him to touch her over hers. The two also had lengthy conversations on Snapchat, including discussions about Carafa’s sexual preferences, and she allegedly asked for pictures of the boy, who she reportedly taught in the third, fifth, and seventh grades before their relationship turned sexual.
The boy confessed to the relationship, and in court, Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Kristin DeMarco alleged that, over the course of four to seven after-school meetings, Carafa called the child into her classroom and asked him to shut the door and close the blinds. There, they would then kiss and touch each other inappropriately, the assistant prosecutor added.
