Just 10 Yrs. for Teach Who Raped 6

by Chrisena Coleman, Daily News Staff Writer
Originally published by the New York Daily News, April 8th, 2003

An HIV-positive school teacher who raped and sodomized six second-grade boys was given 10 years in prison yesterday over the objections of prosecutors, who said the sentence was too lenient.

Milton McFarlane, 39, had faced up to 25 years on each of the 28 counts of rape, sodomy, sexual abuse, child pornography and other charges.

But Bronx Supreme Court Justice John Barone said he approved the plea bargain "so the children would not have to relive testimony in open court."

McFarlane, who was fired from his job at Public School 78 in Williamsbridge, stood silent during his sentencing while relatives of his victims wept.

"Mr. McFarlane, I don't know if there is a way out of hell, although my religion compels me to believe there is," said Barone.

Earlier, Assistant District Attorney Robert Holdman confronted the judge, saying, "The school system failed these children and now the judicial system has failed them again."

When he pleaded guilty in January, prosecutors had recommended McFarlane serve 20 years. But Barone said that amounted to a death sentence, since medical reports indicated the defendant's disease was fatal.

McFarlane tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS in 1995. He was arrested in May 2001.

Holdman said McFarlane's victims have tested negative for HIV but are still fearful and emotionally scarred.

"The bogeyman is alive and sits before you," he told the judge. "These children will be victims for the rest of their lives."

Meanwhile, Mark Levy, 31, a former special education teacher at Columbus High School in the Bronx was sentenced yesterday to spend weekends in jail for the next six months and 10 years probation for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student. That affair began after he ended one with the girl's mother.