Nassau Teacher Who Raped Student Sentenced To Probation

A former Nassau County teacher from the Lawrence Woodmere Academy who pleaded guilty to raping a former student and having a three-year-long affair with her was sentenced to probation in court today.

Daniel McMenamin, 33, of Valley Stream, pleaded guilty to second-degree rape and second-degree criminal sexual act in April. He was sentenced today to 10 years probation in accordance with a plea bargain he worked out with prosecutors, according to Newsday. He also had to give up his teaching license and will register as a sex offender.

“He took away my innocence as a child,” his victim said to the court at the sentencing hearing, according to Newsday. “He made me into an outcast.”

McMenamin, who lives in Valley Stream, was arrested last October after his ongoing, three-year-long sexual relationship with a student at the Lawrence Woodmere Academy came to light. McMenamin started abusing the girl in November 2014, when she was only 14, and continued until July 2017.

According to a spokesperson from the Nassau County District Attorney's Office, it was the wishes of the victim that stopped prosecutors from pursuing a harsher sentence that would require a trail. She said that the trial, and the publicity that would come with it, would further traumatize her, and that she would not be able to testify.

“Daniel McMenamin is a manipulator, narcissist and child predator who preys upon the most vulnerable among us. He groomed a young student, isolated her from her family and peers, and sexually abused her from the time she was 14 until the time she was 17 years old," the spokesperson said. "The office commends this brave survivor for having the courage to come forward to law enforcement. Because of her bravery, McMenamin will never step foot into another classroom, and the community will be on notice for the rest of his life that he is a sexual predator.”

The DA's office said they were originally seeking a sentence of 10 years in prison, but honored the wishes of the victim, whose name was not released.

When news of McMenamin's arrest first broke, it prompted another survivor of abuse at the hands of a Lawrence Woodmere Academy teacher to come forward. Samantha Farber, who was also 14 when she first started to be harassed by her teacher, shared her story with Patch.

In response to both incidents, Alan Bernstein, the headmaster of the school, was let go. In a statement at the time, the school said it puts the "wellbeing of [its] students first," and that new leadership was in place and making changes to ensure incidents like this didn't happen again.