A former math teacher admits to having sex with a 14-year-old Queens student but says he shouldn't be able to be sued over it in federal court -- because he always treated her like just another pupil when they were in class.
Julio Cesar Benavides was 27 and teaching at Richmond Hill HS in Queens when his "personal relationship with [the student] evolved from a normal teacher-pupil relationship into a friendship and eventually into a romantic relationship," with the teen becoming "his girlfriend," according to court papers.
Benavides wound up losing his job and serving nearly two years in state prison after pleading guilty in 2007 to having unlawful sex with the girl -- whom he continued to see after his arrest, records show.
The girl's mother filed a $3 million lawsuit against the ex-teacher in Brooklyn federal court, charging that the teen's civil rights were violated because she was subjected to sexual harassment, a hostile environment and sexual discrimination at the hands of a teacher acting in his official capacity.
But Benavides, who is acting as his own lawyer, responded in court papers last week that because their "secret romantic and sexual relationship" took place after school hours and off school grounds, he can't be sued for his actions.
He says he didn't violate the girl's rights -- but even if he did, he didn't do it in his official capacity as a teacher.
"My official interactions with [her] were always legitimate," Benavides wrote to the judge.
"Never did I change her grade without there being valid academic reasons . . . I always treated her just like I treated all the other students," he wrote.
But the mother's lawyer, Charles Whittier, scoffed at that notion.
"My client was raped -- she was taken advantage of -- and Mr. Benavides was convicted of that," Whittier said. "Mr. Benavides is liable for all civil wrongdoings he committed against my client."
The suit also names the city and the Department of Education, but city officials declined to comment.
Efforts to reach Benavides were unsuccessful.
Julio Cesar Benavides was 27 and teaching at Richmond Hill HS in Queens when his "personal relationship with [the student] evolved from a normal teacher-pupil relationship into a friendship and eventually into a romantic relationship," with the teen becoming "his girlfriend," according to court papers.
Benavides wound up losing his job and serving nearly two years in state prison after pleading guilty in 2007 to having unlawful sex with the girl -- whom he continued to see after his arrest, records show.
The girl's mother filed a $3 million lawsuit against the ex-teacher in Brooklyn federal court, charging that the teen's civil rights were violated because she was subjected to sexual harassment, a hostile environment and sexual discrimination at the hands of a teacher acting in his official capacity.
But Benavides, who is acting as his own lawyer, responded in court papers last week that because their "secret romantic and sexual relationship" took place after school hours and off school grounds, he can't be sued for his actions.
He says he didn't violate the girl's rights -- but even if he did, he didn't do it in his official capacity as a teacher.
"My official interactions with [her] were always legitimate," Benavides wrote to the judge.
"Never did I change her grade without there being valid academic reasons . . . I always treated her just like I treated all the other students," he wrote.
But the mother's lawyer, Charles Whittier, scoffed at that notion.
"My client was raped -- she was taken advantage of -- and Mr. Benavides was convicted of that," Whittier said. "Mr. Benavides is liable for all civil wrongdoings he committed against my client."
The suit also names the city and the Department of Education, but city officials declined to comment.
Efforts to reach Benavides were unsuccessful.
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