New York: An Indian-American official at a local Montessori school has been accused of seducing and indulging in sex with her male students who were between 12 to 13 years of age.
Manhattan Supreme Court last week sentenced Lina Sinha, 40, to six years in jail.
She has until October 18 to plead guilty and accept the sentence and any plea made after that date will attract more severe sentence, the judge said.
"Well, having read through the grand jury minutes, I am willing to make an offer of six years," Carol Berkman, the justice of the court, said indicating that the case against Sinha, a director at the school, was strong.
Earlier lead prosecutor Florence Chapin, talking on behalf of the District Attorney, said that if Sinha, who is also a teacher at the school, pleaded guilty she could serve at least a year in jail.
But the judge's stunning ruling came as about 40 family members and school officials were present in the courtroom.
Prosecution said that Sinha has often been “bothering” the older of the two victims, who is now a police officer in New York.
The officer accused Sinha of having oral sex when he was 13. Two years later, they reportedly began having sex, some of which happened in a school van and apartment next to the school, known as the Montessori International School of New York located on 55th Street on the East Side in Manhattan.
Sinha was born and brought up in New York. She was educated in city schools, including Columbia University. She had been a teacher for 16 years at the school, set up by her parents in 1969.
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