Former Yonkers Teacher Sentenced to 25 Years for Exploiting Student

A Bethel woman and former teacher was sentenced to more than two decades behind bars for sexually exploiting a minor student, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan sentenced Sandy Carazas-Pinez, 36, to 25 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, on Friday, said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton in a news release. 

Carazas-Pinez pleaded guilty to child enticement as part of a plea agreement in December 2024, according to federal documents. She was initially charged in July 2023 with enticing a minor victim to engage in illegal sexual activity and production of child pornography. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Carazas-Pinez was a high school teacher at a school for students ranging from kindergarten through 12th grade in Yonkers, N.Y., at the time of the offense. From November 2022 through February 2023, Carazas-Pinez “abused her position as a teacher” by luring a 16-year-old student into a sexual relationship, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“Sandy Carazas-Pinez betrayed her role and, through explicit texts and other means, coerced a 16-year-old into a sexual relationship,” Clayton said in a statement. “Actions of this type by anyone, particularly a teacher or other person of trust, will not be tolerated.”

Carazas-Pinez worked as a teacher at the Biondi School — a special education school in Yonkers — from December 2021 to March 2023, according to Adam Brill, communications and crisis management senior director with the Harrison Edwards public relations agency, which represents the school. 

According to a statement from the Biondi School, Carazas-Pinez was “immediately removed … from the classroom” after “her improper actions and her clear violation of our policies and code of ethics” were discovered, and was terminated after an internal investigation.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Carazas-Pinez singled out the teen for personal attention and convinced them to engage in sexual activity by leading them to believe they were in a romantic relationship. Carazas-Pinez also used her personal cellphone to call, text and video call the minor to arrange sexual encounters and to repeatedly persuade them to engage in “live-streamed sexually explicit conduct while on video calls,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

In text messages with the minor, Carazas-Pinez referred to her sexual encounters with the student and the video calls as “gifts,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.