SWR Teacher Charged With Rape of Student

A 28-year-old Shoreham/Wading River High School teacher has been accused of having a sexual relationship with a male student over the past two months, Suffolk County police said.

Veronica Pezdan, a Holbrook resident who teaches mathematics at the school part time, was charged with two counts each of third-degree rape and endangering the welfare of a child. 

“Effective immediately, this individual will no longer be employed by the district and a new teacher will be placed in the classroom,” Gerard W. Poole, superintendent of the Shoreham-Wading River School District, said in an email to parents. “The administration and board of education are deeply concerned about these allegations. Please be assured that the district does not tolerate and condemns such behaviors.”

Poole said a staff member tipped off the district to the allegations last week, when an internal investigation was launched and police were contacted. Special Victims Section detectives arrested the teacher on Monday during a traffic stop on William Floyd Parkway as she drove home from the school. The superintendent noted that the teacher passed New York State background checks prior to being hired.

Pezdan is due to be arraigned Tuesday at First District Court in Central Islip. She faces up to four years in prison, if convicted. Attorney information was not immediately available.