Oyster-Adams Bilingual School Teacher Pled Guilty to Sexually Abusing 4th Grade Student in Classroom

            WASHINGTON – Giovanni Pena, 31, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to one count of Second-Degree Child Sexual Abuse and to one count of Obscenity, Acting U.S. Attorney Vincent H. Cohen, Jr. announced. The charges stem from Pena’s sexual abuse of a 4^th grade student at Oyster-Adams Bilingual School, a D.C. Public School, during the 2013 – 2014 school year. Pena remains held without bond pending sentencing on September 4, 2015 before the Honorable Michael Ryan of the D.C. Superior Court.

            According to the government’s evidence, Pena was the child’s 4^th grade teacher during 2013 – 2014. Pena sexually abused the child by touching the child’s clothed penis and buttocks. Pena told detectives with the Metropolitan Police Department’s Youth Investigations Division that he was curious whether a 4^th grade child could have an erection. Pena also had the child touch Pena’s clothed penis. These incidents took place in the classroom during the school day.

            Additionally, Pena sent nude photos of his erect penis to the child, as well as a photo of Pena’s sperm. Pena used the mobile application Snapchat to transmit these images. Pena also taught the child about masturbation.

            In announcing the plea, Acting U.S. Attorney Cohen commended the work of the detectives of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Youth Investigations Division. He also commended the efforts of staff from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Child Forensic Interview Specialists Tracy Owusu and Karen Giannakoulias, Victim Advocate Elsa Maltese, Criminal Investigator John Marsh, Paralegal Specialists Joyce Arthur and D’Yvonne Key, Legal Intern Allison Denton, and Assistant U.S. Attorney John L. Hill, who prosecuted the case.