A New York teacher who investigators say had sex with a student was able to exploit loopholes and delays in the disciplinary system to land a teaching job in New Jersey, The Post has learned.
Jinwoo Seong, 36, repeatedly grabbed a male student’s crotch, exposed himself, had the youth stroke him and engaged in oral sex while a special-education math teacher at Martin Van Buren HS in Queens, according to an explosive eight-page report by special schools investigator Richard Condon. The student cried throughout an interview with investigators.
Seong also touched a girl’s breast and crotch over her clothes, slapped other boys’ butts, hurled obscene comments and made “gay jokes,” the probe found.
One girl told investigators that Seong asked her to measure a classmate’s penis during an after-school tutoring session. Another boy claimed Seong kicked him in the testicles when he cursed the teacher.
But Seong, who was fired, managed to get a new job in Jersey simply by not revealing his troubled past. The case shows how a teacher accused of shocking misconduct can slip through bureaucratic cracks and back into the classroom.
Condon’s nine-month investigation ended last Sept. 28 with a letter to Chancellor Carmen Fariña, saying Seong “has no place in New York City schools.”
But Seong, who was assigned to a “rubber room” pending the probe, remained on the city payroll until the Department of Education terminated him on Nov. 30. The untenured Seong denied the charges but was not entitled to an administrative trial.
Seong used his time in the rubber room to scramble for new employment. In October, New Jersey granted his application to recognize his New York certifications to teach special-ed and math in grades 7 to 12.
Seong then found an opening at Don Bosco Technical Academy, a public middle school in Paterson, NJ, telling officials he wanted to “relocate.” As soon as his NYC firing was official, he accepted the $62,000-a-year position. He started on Dec. 7.
Seong was ashen-faced when The Post confronted him at Don Bosco last week.
“The DOE said this was in-house and ‘you don’t have to worry about this moving on,’ ” the stunned instructor said of the allegations. “Is this going to follow me wherever I go?”
Seong repeated what he told probers: that four students were enraged when he called their homes to report unruly behavior.
“Students tried to conspire against me to get revenge,” he said. “They said, ‘I’ll f–k your wife. I’ll kill your daughter. We know how to fire teachers and we’ll make sure you get fired.’
“Did I break any laws? No. Did I cross any lines? No,” he insisted.
Asked whether he told his new bosses, he said, “I went through the screening. I answered everything they wanted to know.”
But he hinted, “It’s like when you break up with an old girlfriend and have a new girlfriend.”
Capt. James Smith, executive director of security and internal investigations for Paterson schools, on Friday immediately ordered Seong’s removal from the classroom pending further inquiry when informed by The Post about Condon’s report.
“If you’ve been disciplined for inappropriate conduct with a student, we’ll take action,” Smith said he told Seong.
Before hiring him, Paterson officials conducted a criminal background check, which he passed, Smith said. Seong was never arrested or charged with a crime.
Officials also checked his references — but at Bayside HS, where he worked before his troubled stint at Van Buren.
The state is investigating Seong to determine if he should be stripped of his license.