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HomeUSLong Island Teacher in Student Rape Case Arrested for Stalking

Long Island Teacher in Student Rape Case Arrested for Stalking

A former Long Island art teacher who was fired after being accused of raping a student in his classroom has been arrested again — this time for allegedly stalking the same young woman.

The former Bay Shore High School student dialed 911 Thursday morning after she allegedly saw 53-year-old John Kennedy following her when she left her Bay Shore home and traveled to an undisclosed location in Selden, Suffolk County police said.

“Suffolk County Police today arrested a high school teacher for stalking a former student that he had sexual affairs with previously,” a department spokesperson said. Kennedy was taken into custody Thursday evening at his home in St. James, authorities said.

John Kennedy, 53, was arrested for stalking a former student that he is accused of grooming and raping. Suffolk County Police Department

The alleged stalking incident involving the now-18-year-old accuser came just over a week after she filed a blistering lawsuit against the Bay Shore school district. In court papers, she accused school administrators of failing to shield her from a “serial sexual predator” who allegedly raped her repeatedly inside his own classroom.

Kennedy, once described by many current and former students as their “favorite” teacher, was first identified by The Post in October after allegations surfaced that he had sex with the then-17-year-old senior in his art class. He had been placed on administrative leave amid the scandal before his firing.

The girl was of the legal age of consent in New York at the time of the alleged abuse, and a Suffolk County police probe was initially closed after finding no evidence of criminal conduct.

But her lawyer, Andrew Silvershein, claimed Kennedy occupied a position of power as a teacher that made the relationship inherently exploitative, regardless of the age of consent.

The lawsuit also alleged the school district had an obligation to protect the former student from being sexually groomed by the teacher — and ignored warning signs along the way. 

Bay Shore High School in Bay Shore, NY, with a sign announcing closures for Yom Kippur and Columbus Day, and a board meeting.

Bay Shore High School. Google Maps

Bay Shore Superintendent Steven Maloney has maintained that the district acted swiftly once it learned of the allegations and immediately placed Kennedy on administrative leave, barred the creep from campus and alerted Suffolk police.

The scandal marks the third high-profile incident involving possible sexual misconduct by Bay Shore teachers.

In November 2024, the district was ordered to pay $25 million in damages tied to a case involving Thomas Bernagozzi, a retired third-grade teacher who was accused of sexually abusing students for more than three decades.

A Suffolk County jury found the district ignored repeated warning signs about the child predator, whose abuse spanned the 1970s through the early 2000s — and over 50 former students have since come forward.

Marcus Johnson, a teacher’s assistant at the high school, was also charged with raping a 15-year-old student in 2017.

The Post was unable to find a working phone number for Kennedy.