Ex-teacher pleads guilty to raping one of her pupils
A tearful Cara L. Dickey today pleaded guilty to raping one of her 14-year-old students at the South Buffalo Charter School two times last summer.
State Supreme Court Justice John L. Michalski told the 30-year-old mother of three that she faces a prison term of two to five years on her plea.
Jailed since last summer, Dickey became teary-eyed as she began signing the surrender documents giving up her right to ever again teach in the State of New York, a plea condition that prosecutor Colleen Curtin Gable demanded.
With the mother of her 14-year-old victim in the courtroom, Dickey repeatedly and firmly said "Yes, sir" as the judge asked her if she had sex with the boy last June and again between last July 1 and last Aug. 15.
Although the sex was not forced, the boy was considered by law to be too young to have a consensual sexual encounter and that is why she is charged with second-degree rape.
Before Dickey was taken from court about 2:48 p.m., the judge told Dickey she will have to formally surrender her state teacher's certificate when she is sentenced April 22.
Michalski also told her that, in addition to being a state-registered sex offender, she faces up to eight years of post-prison court supervision.
Robert D. Steinhaus, attorney for the rape victim's father, said he has already filed a notice of claim for a pending civil suit against both the South Buffalo Charter School and Dickey over what he called the "extremely inappropriate" relationship in the case.
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Reader comments