A former Bay Shore High School art teacher raped a teenage student in his classroom after grooming her for months, according to a lawsuit filed against the Bay Shore Union Free School District that claims administrators knew about troubling warning signs and failed to stop him. The suit alleges John Kennedy, 53, called the student his “favorite” in front of other classmates, played with her hair, massaged her neck, and repeatedly kissed her before the abuse escalated to forced oral sex, groping, and rape inside his classroom between June and October 2025.
The lawsuit, filed August 14 in Suffolk County Supreme Court, names only the school district as a defendant rather than Kennedy individually, according to Patch. The complaint alleges Kennedy was a “serial sexual predator” who used his position of power to groom and abuse the plaintiff and other students, according to attorney Andrew Silvershein, who represents the former student, as reported by the New York Post. Silvershein said teachers carry a heightened duty and responsibility because they stand in place of a parent for the students in their care.
According to the lawsuit, Kennedy exposed himself to the student, penetrated her with his fingers, and allowed her to work at his desk as the relationship progressed. The Post reports the student was 17 years old, New York's age of consent, when the grooming began, and that the abuse allegedly unfolded largely inside his classroom with school officials continuing to allow Kennedy contact with the teen even after concerns surfaced.
How the District Says It Responded
The student's mother raised concerns about Kennedy to school officials in September 2025, per the Post's reporting. Bay Shore Superintendent Steven Maloney has said the district first learned of sexually charged text messages between Kennedy and the student in October 2025, at which point it placed him on administrative leave, barred him from district property, and alerted the Suffolk County Police Department, according to Patch. Maloney maintained the district acted swiftly once administrators were formally notified and said the district fully cooperated with the police investigation.
The lawsuit, however, alleges school officials failed to adequately supervise or separate Kennedy and the student, and that the district took no action regarding allegations that surfaced in TikTok content the student posted showing Kennedy, with other students commenting that he flirted with girls in his class. The district reportedly demanded the student delete that TikTok video. Maloney has said the district will not discuss specific claims in pending litigation or personnel matters, adding that Bay Shore plans to continue acting quickly and responsibly regarding the well-being of its school community. Stephen Gordon, the Bay Shore High School principal, and Michelle Plett, a guidance counselor at the school, are also referenced in connection with the case.
No Criminal Charges Under Current State Law
Suffolk County Police closed their investigation into Kennedy after finding no evidence of criminal conduct, according to Newsday. Because the student had reached New York's age of consent of 17 at the time, investigators determined his conduct did not meet the threshold for statutory rape under current state Penal Law. New York remains among a minority of states where sexual relationships between school employees and enrolled students who have reached the age of consent are not automatically criminalized, relying instead on administrative regulations rather than specific criminal statutes once a student turns 17, per the New York State Senate. State lawmakers introduced Assembly Bill A11399 in May, the proposed “New York State Child Anti-Grooming Act,” which seeks to explicitly criminalize grooming and predatory misconduct by school personnel toward K-12 students regardless of age, according to the state senate's own records.
A District Already Reeling From Abuse Scandals
The lawsuit lands amid an already fraught stretch for Bay Shore schools. The complaint accuses the district of covering for sexual predators, pointing to the case of retired elementary school teacher Thomas Bernagozzi, who was accused of sexually abusing more than 50 former students. Bernagozzi, 77, was sentenced in Suffolk County Court in May to 33⅓ to 50 years in state prison following his conviction on multiple felony child sex abuse charges, according to Patch. He taught in the district from 1970 to 2000 before facing criminal charges decades later.
The district's school board approved a $35 million bond in December 2024 to settle 12 Child Victims Act lawsuits tied to Bernagozzi, after racking up more than $600,000 in legal defense costs across 45 total claims, per News 12 Long Island. A Suffolk County jury separately found the district liable for reckless negligence in retaining Bernagozzi despite warning signs, awarding a former student $25 million in November 2024 before a judge reduced that judgment to $4 million in March 2025, according to Insurance Journal. The district has since sued two of its former insurance carriers, Hartford Insurance Group and CNA Insurance, alleging they failed to defend and indemnify Bay Shore against those historical abuse claims.
The district's troubles extend beyond the classroom as well. Hoodline previously reported that a former Bay Shore bus driver admitted to repeatedly raping a 12-year-old girl. Miguel Enrique Diaz, 49, pleaded guilty in March to first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child and was sentenced to 16 years in prison the following month, according to Newsday. District officials have said Diaz's crimes occurred off district property and that he was terminated upon his arrest.
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