EX-TEACHER IN SEX CASE IS REARRESTED

Newsday/Matthew Chayes and Sophia Chang

Heather Kennedy, a 25 year old well-liked teacher and track coach at a Wantagh school,stands accused of statutory rape after police say she had sex with a teenage student.  Kennedyhas taught math at Wantagh High School for three years and had a good reputation with students andadministrators alike.  She was arrested in March 2008 and charged with endangering the welfareof a child and with having sex with the 16 year old in his car after his father contacted policebecause the boy told him of the tryst.  Bail was set at $35,000 which was later posted by afamily member.  The judge issued a temporary order of protection for the boy.  Thestatutory rape charge, an E felony, which carries the shortest jail sentence for felony cases, hasa maximum penalty of 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison. 
On March 14, 2009, Kennedy, now 26, was rearrested on new charges that she violated arestraining order by sending three letters to the teenager last year while she was in jail. She pleaded not guilty to three counts of criminal contempt. 
(New York)