A 24-year-old NYPD cadet assigned to the Police Academy has been indicted in Brooklyn on charges that he raped a 17-year-old girl he allegedly met through a dating app, prosecutors say. The defendant, identified as Ahmed Elnahtawy, is charged with third-degree rape, sexual abuse, forcible touching and sexual misconduct, was arraigned and ordered held on $50,000 bail, and is due back in Brooklyn Supreme Court on May 1, 2026.
According to a press release from the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, Elnahtawy, 24, was arraigned before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Donald Leo on an indictment charging third-degree rape, third-degree sexual abuse, forcible touching and sexual misconduct. The office says the alleged encounter took place on November 30, 2025, after the pair first connected on a dating app and later communicated on Instagram, and that the teen reported the incident to a school guidance counselor on December 5, 2025.
News 12 New York reports that prosecutors say the encounter included sexual intercourse and other sexual contact without the girl's consent, and that detectives from the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau handled the investigation. Local coverage quotes District Attorney Eric Gonzalez calling the alleged conduct "disturbing and completely unacceptable" and saying his office will seek to hold the cadet accountable.
Previous arrest at the academy
Elnahtawy was previously the subject of local coverage after a December 2025 arrest tied to a separate allegation that he assaulted a woman at a Queens motel, according to QNS. Those reports state that he was taken into custody at the Police Academy, arraigned in Queens Criminal Court and suspended without pay while the Internal Affairs Bureau investigated.
Charges, penalties and what comes next
Elnahtawy is charged with rape in the third degree, which New York law classifies as a Class E felony, and the text of Penal Law §130.25 sets out the elements prosecutors must prove. The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office notes in its release that an indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt, and says the case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Christina Oddo of the Special Victims Bureau.
Elnahtawy is scheduled to return to Brooklyn Supreme Court on May 1, 2026, where court filings and upcoming hearings will determine whether prosecutors move toward trial. The Internal Affairs Bureau and the District Attorney’s Office handled the investigation and prosecution respectively, and future disclosures in court are expected to provide more detail about the evidence and timeline.
