NY teacher, who sent dirty texts telling ‘special needs’ student she’ll miss his ‘kisses,’ ‘hugs,’ and ‘everything,’ sentenced in court

Content warning: This article describes child sexual abuse. Please take care while reading.

On September 19, 2025, former Yonkers, New York, teacher, Sandy Carazas-Pinez, received a 25-year prison sentence followed by five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to enticing a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity.

Carazas-Pinez, 36, taught at a K-12 school in Yonkers, New York, where the abuse occurred between approximately November 2022 and February 2023. Court documents reveal that the teacher singled out the student, who was 16 at the time, for special attention, a victim whose alleged “special needs” status compounded their vulnerability. During the abuse, Carazas-Pinez began exchanging text messages with the boy that quickly became sexual in nature.

The explicit texts

The evidence presented by the prosecution detailed a pattern of predatory behavior conducted primarily through the teacher’s personal cellphone. Carazas-Pinez used texts, calls, and video calls to arrange sexual encounters and repeatedly induced the minor to engage in live-streamed sexually explicit conduct.

Furthermore, she referred to their sexual encounters and explicit images she coerced the boy to send as “gifts,” and, in a clear effort to conceal her crime, sent sexually suggestive photographs and explicit messages, immediately followed by instructions for the student to delete them.

Add to that, when the student expressed a desire to end the relationship, Carazas-Pinez used her authority, threatening to withhold school privileges if the student refused to allow her to continue the exploitation.

According to the New York Post, one text said, “I know for me it isn’t going to be easy,” if the abusive relationship ended. “I will miss your kisses, hugs and everything,” she said.

Abuse happened outside the school

Court documents reveal that to facilitate their sexual encounters outside of the school, Carazas-Pinez would direct the victim to get a day pass to leave campus. She would then meet him, drive him to other locations, and engage in sexual acts with him in her car in various places, including in or around the Bronx, Yonkers, and Staten Island, New York.

Authorities arrested Carazas-Pinez, a married mother of three, in July 2023 following an investigation by the FBI and the New York City Police Department. Her school terminated her teaching position in March that year. She was initially charged with enticing a minor victim to engage in illegal sexual activity and production of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton stated that Carazas-Pinez “betrayed her role” and that such actions will not be tolerated. “Sexual exploitation by teachers offends every New Yorker,” Clayton said.

If you know someone suffering from sexual violence, contact RAINN or the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.