Brooklyn Elite School math teacher arrested in sexualized images investigation

A math teacher at an elite Brooklyn private school has been arrested during an investigation into sexualized images shared on social media, leaving influential parents scrambling for answers about what happened just days before their graduation.

Cops Arrested Winston Nguyen – Once Danger! candidate who in 2017 was accused of siphoning off a large sum from an elderly couple to finance a lavish lifestyle – at Saint Ann's School in the trendy celebrity neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights last Thursday , in front of a crowd of students. He was released on Saturday.

Nguyen has not been charged but remains a suspect in an ongoing investigation by the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, which confirmed his arrest to The Daily Beast.

A spokeswoman for Saint Ann's, where tuition can reach $60,000 a year, said the district attorney's office “has confirmed to us that Winston is a suspect in an ongoing investigation related to the distribution of intimate images via social media.

“Upon his arrest Thursday,” she added, “he was immediately placed on leave by the school and remains on leave.”

On June 6, Kenyatte Reid, Saint Ann's school principal, sent an email to parents announcing Nguyen's arrest, but admitting he did not know “the specific charges.”

“I was informed this evening by the Assistant District Attorney that his arrest is related to an investigation dating back to January 2024,” Reid wrote.

A few days later, Reid sent another email update, saying that Nguyen was a suspect in an ongoing investigation regarding “inappropriate sexualized images” and that he was prohibited from contacting anyone in the school community and to visit the school.

Reid added that the DA's office has asked any “families with information related to Winston's conduct or any suspicious activity on Snapchat or any other social media” to come forward. “This incident is very troubling for all of us,” Reid said. “We are proud of our wonderful teachers and a learning environment rooted in trust. »

The renowned school boasts high-profile alumni, including actresses Lena Dunham and Jennifer Connelly, artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and Maya Hawke, the daughter of Hollywood stars Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman. The school's parents include television personalities, best-selling authors, lawyers and investors.

The arts school, which avoids giving grades, is so popular that in 2016, actor Matt Damon apparently couldn't find a place for his own children.

But the facility has also been the subject of controversy over the years, including an internal investigation in 2019 that uncovered several instances of staff members, such as founding director Stanley Bosworth, engaging in abusive behavior. sexual misconduct with students from the 1970s to the 1990s.

Nguyen was hired in 2020, the Saint Ann spokeswoman said, and his last position was as a middle and high school math teacher. When asked if administrators were aware of his criminal history, the representative said the school conducts comprehensive background checks, including his criminal record, when hiring employees.

“A non-violent criminal record cannot prevent employment,” she added. “The school gives a careful and insightful assessment of an applicant’s potential fit for the school.”

“We are fully cooperating with law enforcement in their efforts, and at this time we are working to help our students process this news.”

When contacted by a Daily Beast reporter, Nguyen laughed and said: new York The magazine was “12 hours ahead” of this report and directed us to its lawyer.

Nguyen's attorney, Frank Rothman, said the prosecutor's office declined to immediately file charges pending further investigation.

“That’s where things are right now,” Rothman told The Daily Beast. “They are investigating and will make a decision in the near future on what, if any, charges to bring against him.”

“I don’t think it’s something that just won’t be a problem,” Rothman added. “There's going to be a problem. The question is: how big and when?

Parents on Thursday wondered how Nguyen could land a job at the prestigious Saint Ann's despite his scam against the elderly couple making tabloid fodder — as well as his lawsuit against the city Department of Corrections commissioner over Rikers Island , who allegedly censored newspapers and failed to provide socks and underwear.

“And what the hell is going on?” How did we get here?'” a Saint Ann parent told The Daily Beast. “What does the vetting process look like? What does the process look like in the background?

“He had never been a teacher before,” they added. “He was smart and went to great schools, but still, if you're going to hire a former Rikers inmate accused of a serious crime, I think we need to go beyond a basic interview and start over.

“The idea that this was someone close to my children… it’s terrifying.”

The parent said she learned that male students were receiving friend requests from social media accounts that were later linked to Nguyen.

“I see him as a manipulator and a scammer,” they said. “He scammed an elderly couple and came in as a Covid hire under another school administration.”

A summer 2021 issue of the school newspaper The Times of Saint Anne noted that Nguyen “joined us this year as a special assistant for Covid-related projects” and that he would “stay on as a special assistant to the administrative team” and “also teach a math class” .

Meanwhile, a faculty directory for the 2021-2022 school year listed Nguyen as a Columbia University graduate and private tutor in math, Latin, English and standardized tests. He also chronicles his past positions as a diversity consultant at other schools in the city.

This is not the first time that Nguyen has been in the crosshairs of justice.

In August 2017, while working as a home health aide, Nguyen was arrested for defrauding a 96-year-old blind man and his 92-year-old wife in Manhattan out of more than $300,000. The arrest took place three years after his appearance on Danger.

Prosecutors said that in 2015, six years after he was hired to help the elderly couple, Nguyen used the couple's credit cards and bank account to finance trips to Florida and tickets to ballets and Broadway shows.

As part of the scheme, Nguyen even went so far as to falsify the couple's bank statements and impersonate their son in conversations with their condominium board, the office said at the time. Manhattan District Attorney.

Rothman told The Daily Beast that Nguyen pleaded guilty, served jail time and probation, and was ordered to pay restitution.

“We felt so sad for this couple,” said an employee at the couple’s Upper East Side digs. New York Daily News in 2017. “They trusted him so much. He betrayed them. He pretended to be a big shot, a millionaire. »

While awaiting trial at Rikers, Nguyen frequently complained about the jail's notorious conditions, twice calling into a radio show to convey his grievances to then-Mayor De Blasio.

According to a letter Nguyen wrote to the city in June 2019, he was incarcerated at Rikers from January to May of that year. In his missive, he proposed changes to inmate rules regarding “sexually explicit material” and contact between inmates. “Not all physical contact is rape,” he wrote. “Not all physical contact leads to rape.”

In November 2019, a judge ultimately dismissed Nguyen's lawsuit against Rikers for failing to provide basic necessities because he was no longer in custody. (The same month, the scammer accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to prison, on New York Post reported)

Nguyen fumed Job that he would appeal the judge's decision and possibly file a class-action lawsuit against the city.

He complained that while incarcerated, he did not have the resources to file a petition that would not be denied.

“Underwear doesn’t make headlines,” Nguyen said. “The more we let them get away with small things, the easier it is for them to get away with bigger things.” »