The high school English teacher charged with statutory rape for repeatedly having sex with a 16-year-old student has been indicted. Erin Sayar, 36, is facing eight counts of third-degree rape, marijuana possession, criminal sex act, sexual misconduct, and sexual abuse for allegedly having sex with student Kevin Eng last winter. Eng's family is also suing the city Education Department for $10 million: “This is only the first step in seeking justice,” lawyer Bruce Baron said.
Sayar, who taught at "Horndog High" James Madison High School, faces seven years in prison on each rape count if convicted. But Sayar remains optimistic, telling reporters last week that she hopes to resume teaching there in the future: "I’ve spent my entire teaching career there, since 2000, and some of my best friends are there. I’ve heard from them, and they’re rooting for me. I have no plan on moving. It’s a great school. It’s a beautiful school with highly intelligent teachers and mostly wonderful students."
Rumors also spread that her husband, Jimmy Lathrop, was looking for a divorce lawyer in the wake of the allegations—particularly because Sayar and Eng exchanged 3,856 texts and nearly 20 phone calls during the alleged affair. But both Sayar and Lathrop have publicly denied either is interested in divorce.
And this week, "Horndog High" was again in the news when a student put out a song about the school's many, many scandals, and bemoaned its poor reputation: “When you tell family and friends that you go to James Madison High School and they say, 'You go there?’ with that funny look, nobody wants that,” he said. “You want to be known for something good.”
