Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah announced that former New Rochelle High School teacher John Fraioli was sentenced today to six months of shock incarceration with 10 years of sex offender probation for engaging in sexual acts with a student. Fraioli also had to surrender his New York State teaching license, and will be required to register as a sex offender.
Fraioli pleaded guilty on October 13, 2020 to committing a criminal sex act in the third degree and rape in the third degree, relating to sexual acts with a teenage female student that took place in the school building and at his home in White Plains, respectively. Fraioli was initially arrested by New Rochelle Police in May, 2019.
The case was before the Honorable Susan Cacace, AJSC. In a victim impact statement read at the sentencing, the victim stated: “Even though I logically know I’m not to blame I still spent most days wondering if I could have done something different. I’ve had so many days, months, almost two years now wasted on unnecessary feelings of guilt, shame and embarrassment over something that wasn’t my fault.”
The victim’s mother also read a victim impact statement. She noted the positive impact of teachers in her own life and said that teachers are meant to support, encourage and empower students. However, she stated, Fraioli did the opposite: “You stripped her of hope. You took full advantage of her vulnerability. You manipulated her. You used her. You preyed upon her…. My only hope is that in time she will be able to overcome the abuse you inflicted. My biggest fear is that she may not.”
“It is truly disturbing that someone we trusted to protect and care for our children instead did such terrible harm, and the statements from the victim and her mother make clear the extreme and long-lasting impact of this abuse,” DA Rocah said. “Our office will continue to aggressively pursue cases such as this one and to make the well-being of the victim our highest
The case was handled by Assistant District Attorney Mary Clark-DiRusso. Sex offender probation involves a rigorous term of 10 years of supervision by the County Department of Probation sex offense unit, with a strict set of guidelines that include among other things, mandatory participation in treatment, restrictions on daily living, travel, use of computers, employment and living conditions, regular submission to polygraph tests to monitor compliance and historical offending behavior, and regular supervision by the court to ensure compliance. It is also revocable at any indication of non-compliance.
An individual on sex offender probation is not permitted to congregate with children under the age of 18 or to be present in places where they congregate. Fraioli is due back in court on May 11 for a hearing to determine his sex offender risk level.
