A Brooklyn teacher wound up in handcuffs Wednesday on charges that he allegedly raped his underage former girlfriend during an encounter nearly four years ago, police reported.
Sergio Garcia, 26, was picked up on April 7 following an investigation by the 77th Precinct and the NYPD Special Victims Division. Police sources said he works as a teacher at J.H.S. 227, a middle school on 16th Avenue in Bensonhurst.
Law enforcement sources said Garcia was 22 when he allegedly drugged and raped the then-14-year-old girl, whom they identified as his former girlfriend, on Aug. 26, 2017. The attack allegedly occurred inside his former residence on 45th Street in Sunset Park.
According to police, the victim told detectives that Garcia provided her with a gummy candy that she ate. Moments after she consumed the candy, she told police, she felt lightheaded; Garcia then allegedly raped her.
Cops said Garcia and the victim allegedly also had an illegal sexual relationship between August and December of 2017. The victim, now 18, filed a complaint about it with police on March 22, 2021.
Garcia was booked on two counts of rape as well as additional counts of sexual misconduct, sexual abuse and acting in a manner injurious to a child.
The Department of Education said that Garcia worked as a substitute teacher at J.H.S. 227, and was first employed there last September. Police initially reported that he worked there as a health education teacher.
“These are extremely disturbing allegations of conduct from several years prior to this substitute’s employment, and we took immediate action as soon as they were reported,” according to a DOE spokesperson. “He is not eligible to work in our schools pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.”
Updated on April 8 at 10:50 a.m.
