A Teacher in Queens Tried to Make Her Fifth Grade Students Send Cards to her Prison Inmate Boyfriend

And guess what he was in prison for?

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A teacher in Queens forced her class of fifth graders to make cards for her prison inmate boyfriend, who's in jail because he has a bit of a taste for child pornography and illegal gun possession. Teacher of the year, not

The teacher, Melissa Dean, told cops that she wanted her students at P.S. 143 to make cards for her boyfriend, John Coccarelli, because she thought "it was a nice thing to do." She told her students they were to make cards for people who were "lonely" over the holidays, and instead sent them off to Groveland Correctional Facility where Coccarelli is in jail. Some cards included things like the students' personal information and home address. Dean even wrote one herself, signing it, "from your Wifey, Melissa."

Luckily, a prison guard intercepted the letters before they ever reached any inmate, and reported it to the principal of P.S. 143. City Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott says of the situation that Dean's actions will not be tolerated, and, "we’re moving for that teacher’s termination."

[via New York Daily News]

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