Central Islip teacher paid students for inappropriate photos, police say

A Central Islip teacher “manipulated and preyed” on two 16-year-old female students, paying them for nude or bikini-clad photos and offering one additional money for sex, Suffolk Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said Friday.

Jairo Inswasty, 70, of Islandia was arrested Thursday and charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor. He was issued a desk appearance ticket and will be arraigned at a later date.

It was not immediately clear if Inswasty had an attorney, and efforts to reach him Saturday were not successful.

“It’s shocking quite frankly for an adult in that situation of trust to engage in this behavior and take advantage of these young women the way he did,” Hart said at a news conference in Yaphank.

Authorities said the alleged crimes occurred between January and May and that the students reported the behavior to school officials, including a math teacher and guidance counselor, who then contacted police.

Hart said Inswasty, who has taught at the school since 1996, began in January paying one student to clean his home once a week.

The teacher later asked the teen to pose “in inappropriate manners and take photos of her,” Hart said. The girl then agreed to pose for a nude photo and Inswasty paid her $150 in cash, she said.

He eventually offered the victim an iPhone X to have sex with him but she declined, authorities said.

Inswasty showed a second student $2,000 and asked the girl to send him photos of her in a bikini, Hart said. The student complied and he paid her $5, adding that “the next time there would be more,” Hart said.

He subsequently asked the girl to send him more pictures and videos but she declined, Hart said.

The girls were students of Inswasty and knew each other, Hart said.

Officers from the Suffolk Police Department’s Special Victims Section executed a search warrant at Inswasty’s home and found a camera, tripod, flash storage drives and other electronic devices, Hart said.

Central Islip School District Superintendent Howard Koenig said Inswasty was suspended with pay last month pending the outcome of the case.

“We of course will offer assistance to any student that was involved in something like this,” Koenig said. He said he was not aware of any additional victims.

Authorities are seeking to determine if there are other victims. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 631-852–6531 or Crime Stoppers at 800-220-8477.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.