An attorney defending a teacher on charges that he had a sexual relationship with an underage student told jurors on Tuesday that the alleged victim invented the accusations to make money from suing the city.
The attorney for Mervyn Affoon, a business teacher at the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, said during opening statements that the accuser made up stories of having sex the then-66-year-old instructor in 2017 — when the alleged victim was 16 years old — so his family could file a $11 million lawsuit against the city.
“This case is about a troublesome, mischievous, not-truthful 16-year-old boy that devised a clever, brilliant and shameless plan to get big money for him and his family,” attorney Mark Pollard said to jurors on the first day of the trial against Affoon.
Affoon denies charges that he had sex with the student on multiple occasions over a several-month period starting in March 2017.
Affoon was arrested in October 2017 and faces a 25-count indictment that includes promoting a sexual performance with a child, a felony charge that carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.
Prosecutors allege that Affoon began grooming his alleged victim by touching him on his groin on an elevator on campus at Erasmus Hall in Flatbush.
Affoon gave the teen $10 or $20 after their illicit liaisons, Assistant District Attorney Christopher Mirabella said to jurors during opening arguments.
“While some teachers practice arithmetic with their students … this teacher practiced a ritual of sexual abuse,” Mirabella said.
Affoon, who wore a blue dress shirt and a gray scarf to court, remained mostly expressionless through opening arguments but shook his head once during Mirabella’s presentation.
Jurors also heard testimony on Tuesday from the teen’s mother, whose voice cracked with emotion as she described the time when her son revealed that he had been having sex with his teacher.
“He was very upset. He was about to tears,” she said.
During his cross-examination with the mother, Pollard aimed many of his questions at the family’s lawsuit — including whether or not she “looked forward” to getting some settlement money out of the city.
“No, sir,” she shot back, her voice cracking again. The family’s lawsuit, filed against the city in 2018, is still pending.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on Affoon’s accusation against his accuser, who is now 19 years old.
Affoon retired from the DOE in November 2017.
“These extremely disturbing allegations have absolutely no place in our schools and Mr. Affoon no longer works for the DOE,” a spokeswoman for the department said.
