Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn is an expensive private school that charges up to $60,000 a year for students in the upper grades. In 2020 when the school was trying to deal with COVID, they hired Winston Nguyen on a temporary basis. The person who recommended him made it clear from the outset that he had a criminal record.

Maureen “Mo” YusufMorales, who had recently been hired as the Head of the Upper Middle School, recommended Nguyen to Melissa Kantor, then-Dean of Faculty.  At the outset, Yusuf-Morales informed Kantor that Nguyen had a criminal record, and Kantor informed then-Head of School Vince Tompkins in writing that Nguyen had a conviction relating to a “financial issue with his prior employer.”

He was hired before the school could run a background check. When the background check did finally come back the administrators were surprised by what it contained but decided to keep it to themselves.

In early September 2020, after Nguyen had already begun working on campus, the results of Nguyen’s formal background check showed that he had pled guilty in 2019 to several charges, including endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person.  The endangerment charge was new information to Tompkins and Kantor, but they did not make any changes to Nguyen’s employment or supervision or notify anyone else at the School about his criminal history. 

In October 2020, Saint Ann’s offered Nguyen a full-time salaried position for the remainder of the 2020–2021 school year.  At no point during Nguyen’s first year did Saint Ann’s leadership inform the School community about Nguyen’s criminal history beyond certain core administrators.  Tompkins and Kantor told investigators that this was an intentional decision in order to allow people to evaluate Nguyen based on their experiences with him rather than on his past.

Nguyen became a math teacher but almost immediately some teachers thought his behavior was a bit odd. He set up an office for himself in the school and sometimes brought snacks and coffee for certain students. He offered to tutor students in school and at home and he occasionally seemed to sleep at the school overnight.

By August of 2023 the school was considering firing him but instead gave him a warning and put him on a performance improvement plan. Then they learned that he was using AI to write his student evaluations and didn't renew his contract for the 2024-25 school year. But the worst was yet to come.

In February 2024, Saint Ann’s learned from certain high school students that they had been the victims of a catfishing scheme on Snapchat involving solicitation and distribution of inappropriate photographs.  School employees told investigators that given how frequently inappropriate behavior occurs on social media in general, Saint Ann’s does not have a practice of informing the community of specific social media incidents.  In this instance, administrators did not believe that the account was connected to Saint Ann’s and did not alert students, families, or employees about the incident.

In April and May 2024, other administrators separately learned of similar catfishing on Snapchat involving middle school students.  Once again, Saint Ann’s leadership did not inform the community about the incidents. 

On June 6, 2024, Nguyen was arrested, and on July 25, 2024, he was charged by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office with various charges, including use of a child in a sexual performance, promoting a sexual performance by a child, and disseminating indecent material to minors.  Prior to his arrest, Saint Ann’s leadership had no awareness that he was under investigation and did not suspect him of involvement in the Snapchat misconduct.

On Monday of this week, he pleaded guilty to a felony.

A nattily dressed figure who arrived at class often in a suit and sometimes with a bow tie, Mr. Nguyen transformed a felony record from a liability into a résumé-builder at a school known for embracing unconventional educators. He taught a seminar called “Crime and Punishment” and quickly become a fixture at the school...

Mr. Nguyen agreed to plead guilty to one count of using a child in a sexual performance and five separate counts, representing five children, of “knowingly acting in a manner likely to be injurious to the physical, mental or moral welfare of a child less than 17 years.”

Daniel Newcombe, an assistant district attorney, informed the judge of the recommended punishment: seven years in prison, 10 years supervision after his release and a requirement that he register as a sex offender for 20 years...

“I am at a place where I know what I’ve done,” he said. “I think part of the reason I feel so horribly is I just don’t know any way I can make it better for the kids, or for their families or for the school. I accept this sentence because I know that I did something wrong and I want to answer for it.”

I hope he's sincere but the fact that this is his second felony conviction does make you wonder. His sentencing is set to take place in two weeks. As for the school and the people who hired him, I don't see any reports that anyone was fired or that anyone has filed a lawsuit yet. Maybe one of the parents should.