A New York City middle school teacher flew to Florida to have sex with a teenage girl he met online, Florida police authorities have revealed.
Zeshaan Naqvi, 31, who teaches social studies at an all-girls school called the Young Women’s Leadership School in Jamaica, Queens, flew to Tampa in Florida after chatting with the victim online for about three months, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
Last Friday morning, January 22, at exactly 1.30a.m, Naqvi picked the teen up at her Florida home, then brought her back to his hotel room, where they “engaged in sexual acts,” authorities said in a statement released Sunday January 24.
After the sex for a few hours he brought the victim back to her home.
Police arrested Naqvi at the hotel later in the day, and he admitted to police he knew the victim was underage.
It’s illegal for any adult 24 or older to have sex with a teen under the age of 18 in Florida and the sheriff’s office did not release the girl’s age, citing a recently passed victim’s rights law.
Naqvi now faces significant jail time.
“It never ceases to amaze us the lengths predators will go to, to get what they want,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a written statement.
“In this case, a middle school history teacher booked a ticket, boarded a plane, and traveled across the country to meet with a minor who he had been chatting with for about three months. This behavior is deeply disturbing and serves as a grim warning to parents to monitor their child’s online activity.”
Naqvi was ordered held on $60,000 bond, public records show. He has worked for the New York City school system since 2014.
“These allegations are extremely disturbing, and we have zero tolerance for this behavior,” Education Department spokeswoman Danielle Filson said Sunday. “The teacher was immediately reassigned from his current position pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.”
