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Brooklyn Tech Teacher Sexually Victimized 6 Students: Brooklyn DA

By Ben Fractenberg | September 30, 2014 3:54pm
 Sean Shaynak, 44, was arraigned in Brooklyn Supreme Court on the morning of Sept. 30, 2014 after being  charged with sexually victimizing six female Brooklyn Technical Students .
Sean Shaynak, 44, was arraigned in Brooklyn Supreme Court on the morning of Sept. 30, 2014 after being charged with sexually victimizing six female Brooklyn Technical Students .
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Jesse Ward/New York Daily News

BROOKLYN — A Brooklyn Technical High School science teacher  already facing charges of sending a lewd Snapchat photo to a student was re-arrested Tuesday morning after he was indicted of victimizing six more teenage girls since 2011 including taking a 15-year-old student to a nude beach according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.

Sean Shaynak, 44, who teaches at Dante de Blasio's school, was charged in a new indictment for abusing the girls, ages 13 to 19, between 2011 and 2014, plying some of them with alcohol and cigarettes and engaging in “consensual sex acts” with two of the students, according to a statement from the Brooklyn DA.

“It is shocking that a public high school teacher allegedly sexually preyed on vulnerable students,” Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson said in a statement. “We will now seek to vindicate the rights of those students.”

Shaynak was first arrested on Aug. 26 after allegedly sending a picture of his genitals to a 16-year-old student on the first day of summer vacation over Snapchat, which deletes photos and videos after they are sent.

The student was able to take a picture of message before it disappeared.

After Shaynak's arrest, investigators obtained search warrants for three computers and two phones, where they discovered “thousands of text messages, as well as hundreds of photographs and videos,” according prosecutors.

The investigation found that he took the 15-year-old girl to a nude beach, performed an unwanted sex act on an 18-year-old student, sent photos of his genitals to four students, including two minors, and had consensual sex with an 18 and 19-year-old student.

Shaynak was indicted on additional charges including kidnapping, committing a criminal sexual act, forcible touching, endangering the welfare of a child and disseminating indecent material.

After his August arrest, he was indicted for disseminating indecent material to a minor, obscenity and endangering the welfare of a child.

Shaynak is facing up to 25 years in prison on the top charge.

He was arraigned before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Martin Murphy Tuesday and held on $1 million bond.

"My client maintains his innocence on all these charges," defense attorney Kimberly Summers said in court, the New York Daily News reported.

A number of text messages between Shaynak and one of the students were sent because of a project they were working on together, Summers confirmed to DNAinfo New York.

She declined to comment further on the case.