Massapequan Faces Rape Charges

*UPDATE: A second student has come forward alleging an affair with Morsi

A Queens high school teacher from Massapequa was arrested and charged with having a sexual relationship with an underage student.

According to authorities, Joy Morsi, a 39-year-old gym teacher at Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood, 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. If convicted, Morsi faces up to four years in prison.

Police said Morsi had sex with the student both inside and outside the school, and also sent explicit texts, pictures and videos during a relationship that officials said began in June of 2013, when the male student was 16, and continued for an unspecified amount of time.

Officials were tipped off after one of the student’s female friends told her parents about the alleged explicit relationship.

The Deptartment of Education immediately removed Morsi from the classroom, officials said, and they were looking into her interactions with other students. The DOE said Morsi, whose husband also works at the school, has no prior investigations against her and has been a gym teacher at the school since 1999.

“The Department immediately removed Joy Morsi from the classroom upon learning the allegations,” the DOE said in a statement. “We find these claims disturbing and reprehensible and she will remain reassigned, far from any student and the school, pending a criminal investigation. We will work closely with the school to ensure they are given any needed support.”