Ex-Farmington Teacher Is Charged with Coercing Teen to Engage in Sex

A former private school teacher, already in jail on a sex assault conviction, is facing federal indictment that charges him with enticing an underage teen into a sexual relationship.

According to an announcement released by U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly and Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England, a federal grand jury in Hartford returned an indictment on July 9 charging Joseph Rajkumar, 44, formerly of Farmington, with one count of use an interstate facility to persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity.

The charge stems from Rajkumar s sexual relationship with a student while he was a teacher at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, according to the announcement. The indictment alleges that, in approximately November 2011, Rajkumar used a computer connected to the Internet to entice a minor who had not reached the age of 18 to engage in sexual activity for which any person could be charged with a criminal offense.

If convicted, Rajkumar faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life.

Rajkumar was arrested by Farmington Police in March 2013 on a charge of second-degree sexual assault in connection with an incident on Dec. 26, 2011, according to the Connecticut Judicial Branch website. He pleaded guilty in state Superior Court in Hartford on Oct. 29, 2013 and was sentenced Jan. 7, 2014, to 10 years in jail, execution suspended after 18 months, and 10 years of probation, according to court records. Rajkumar is currently in state custody. 

The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Farmington Police Department, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarala V. Nagala.