A scheming Bronx teacher raped a 10-year-old student after he tricked the girl’s family into thinking she was receiving an academic award, police sources said Wednesday.
“He needs to die,” the girl’s devastated grandmother told the Daily News.
Twisted Public School 386 teacher Anthony Criscuolo — the hulking brute accused of the sickening attack on his fifth-grade student — penned a bogus note to the victim’s parents on school letterhead announcing that their daughter had written an award-winning persuasive essay, police sources said.
The letter convinced the unsuspecting parents to allow the 40-year-old predator, who had already given the girl an iPod Touch and let her wear a diamond ring in his classroom, to take the girl to a sham award ceremony he claimed was Monday.
But there were no awards, no ceremony, no pomp and no circumstance. Instead, the pathetic creep drove the victim to a school parking lot in Queens and raped her inside his silver Dodge Charger, which has tinted windows that hid the beastly attack, police sources said.
The girl’s mother called cops Tuesday after she found a string of sexually illicit emails sent by Criscuolo, family said. One missive even said the perv had left his wife to be with the child.
He was manipulating her to keep her from talking,” said the girl’s aunt, who also lives with the family. “She was scared.”
Cops collared Criscuolo Wednesday, and he was awaiting arraignment.
“We plan to seek his termination,” said Education Department spokeswoman Connie Pankratz.
A teacher since 2002, Criscuolo pulled in $73,000 a year. There were no previous investigations against him, officials said. The creep apparently fancied himself a looker, creating a profile on the modeling website Explore Talent and posting a photograph of himself tanned and at the beach.
Students in Criscuolo’s classroom said their teacher showered them with constant attention and gifts. He gave $5 bills to pupils who made the honor roll and always had treats tucked away in a separate classroom.
“He gave us whatever he wanted,” said sixth-grader Natalia Perez, who had Criscuolo last year.
It appears Criscuolo only had eyes for his victim, with whom he exchanged notes during class, some students said. Others recalled how he took the girl and danced with her like she was his wife during a Valentine’s Day party in class.
Parents at the school were disgusted.
“You can’t tell me nothing to make me feel better about what he did to that little girl,” said Edgar Aquino, 27. “That could have been anybody’s daughter.
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