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According to the charges, the female victim was a student of Cognato’s when she was in the 8th grade at IS 93 in Ridgewood.
By Forum Staff
A math teacher from middle school IS 93 in Ridgewood has been charged with child endangerment and other charges for having engaged in sexually explicit communications with a 14-year-old girl from the school.
Michael Cognato, 35, of Bethpage, Long Island is accused of exchanging sexually explicit photos and videos with teen who was once his student.
Cognato is awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court on a 33-count criminal complaint charging him with one count of use of a child in a sexual performance, sixteen counts of first-degree disseminating indecent material to minors, 15 counts of promoting a sexual performance of a child and one count of endangering the welfare of a child.
The student was in the eighth grade at the school when the defendant was her teacher. Following her graduation, Cognato tutored her in advanced math over the summer and kept in contact with her during the next school year through Facbook messaging and Skype.
Cognato continued to communicate with the teen during the summer of 2017 and at the end of July, he initiated conversation with her via Snapchat. Authorities said he sent her several pictures of himself without a shirt and soon after, Cognato started sexually explicit conversations with her. He sent her several naked pictures of himself and continued to engage in sexually explicit conversation with her. On or about August 15, the victim sent several naked pictures of herself to Cognato and, in turn, he began sending her videos of him performing a sexual act. It is alleged that between the end of August 2017 and September 29, 2017, Cognato had sent her at least 15 sexual explicit videos of himself and that she sent a similar number of videos that she had made at Cognato’s request.
The case came to light when the victim’s mother notified the police.
“The charges are very troublesome. A teacher is accused of preying on a young student he had once been entrusted to teach. A classroom should always be a safe place for a child. If true, this teacher destroyed his former student’s trust,” said DA Brown. “This case should serve as a clear and unmistakable warning that law enforcement is prepared to apprehend and prosecute sexual predators who betray and defile youngsters.”
If convicted, Cognato faces up to 15 years in prison.
