Joy Morsi, teacher from Massapequa, charged with raping student at Queens school, DA says

A Queens high school teacher from Massapequa is charged with raping a student multiple times on school property when the student was 16 years old, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Joy Morsi, 39, a physical education teacher at Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood, was arraigned Tuesday before Queens Criminal Court Judge Ernest Hart, according to a news release from the office of Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.

Morsi is charged with 20 counts of third-degree rape, 20 counts of third-degree criminal sexual act and one count of endangering the welfare of a child.

Bail was set at $25,000 and her next court date is June 23.

If convicted, Morsi faces up to 4 years in prison.

According to the criminal charges, Morsi engaged in sexual relations with a male student in the basement and other locations inside the high school on "multiple occasions" between June 5 and July 24, 2013.

The physical relationship began when the student was 16, the news release said. Seventeen is the age of consent in the state.

"This case is particularly disturbing because the defendant is a teacher and schools should be safe havens for children," Brown said in the release.

The city Department of Education said Morsi has been removed from the classroom, according to The Associated Press.

Morsi's attorney did not return calls for comment.