Sandy Carazas-Pinez, 34, a former teacher at the Biondi Education Center in Yonkers, violated her strict conditions of bail and is now incarcerated by order of federal Judge John Cronan.
Terms of Release
The nonprofit organization, Rising Ground, operates the Biondi School and terminated Carazas-Pinez’s employment in March 2023. The cause stemmed from seeing her with a student alone in her car off campus. She was also observed “in close contact” with a student while in her classroom.
On July 12, 2023, law enforcement arrested Carazas-Pinez; charging her with enticing a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity. The U.S. Attorney also charged Carazas-Pinez with the production of child pornography.
The court released her on bail at her arraignment. Although, the terms forbid her from having any unsupervised contact with a minor under the age of 18. Her travel was also greatly limited via home confinement. According to The New York Post, Judge Cronan called her “a real danger to the community” and warned her to comply with the established regulations.
Bail Revoked
However, in April, Judge Cronan received notice of numerous violations identified by pre-trial supervisors. These included a visit to a mall and an Applebee’s restaurant. GPS tracking also revealed visits to a restaurant on Staten Island, followed by a trip to a wooded area for undisclosed reasons.
The defendant also contacted a former student via email to extend birthday wishes one day after he turned 18. During a hearing, Judge Cronan remarked on Carazas-Pinez’s behavior.
It seems to fly in the face of the spirit of the conditions.
Prosecutors concurred and stated that this behavior aligned with the former teacher’s “pattern of grooming” a student for sexual exploitation.
On April 15, 2024, Carazas-Pinez entered into the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn while she awaits trial.
