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Former Chappaqua Teacher Now Offered Revised Plea Deal In Sex-Abuse Case

CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. -- The Westchester County District Attorney's office is offering an amended plea deal to former Horace Greeley High School drama teacher Christopher Schraufnagel in his sex-abuse case. The new version comes after a local judge rejected the previous version that did not require Schraufnagel to register as a sex offender.

Christopher Schraufnagel, pictured at a previous New Castle Justice Court date in July.

Christopher Schraufnagel, pictured at a previous New Castle Justice Court date in July.

Photo Credit: Tom Auchterlonie

The proposal was announced at Thursday's New Castle Justice Court Session by Assistant District Attorney Mary Clark-DiRusso. While she did not elaborated on what the changes are, she did say that it takes into consideration the court's "concerns."

The local judge, Douglas Kraus, rejected the deal that called for Schraufnagel to plead guilty to three misdemeanor-level charges of endangering the welfare of a child and to serve three years of probation. Schraufnagel would have submitted to monitoring similar to that of a sex offender for the term of his probation.

Schraufnagel's side has until Oct. 27 to weigh in on the modified deal. He was not present in court on Thursday, although he was represented by his lawyer, Stacey Richman.

Richman, meanwhile, sent a request to Kraus, which asked him to reconsider his rejection of the original deal. Kraus will give a formal response to Richman's request at a later date.

As part of the previous version of the deal, Schraufnagel admitted to having sexual contact with two Greeley students and to having non-sexual contact with a third. 

Schraufnagel now faces his original criminal charges, which were brought in October. They include one felony count of a criminal sexual act, four misdemeanor-level counts of sex abuse and a single misdemeanor-level count of endangering the welfare of a child.

Kraus noted on Thursday that Schraufnagel's admissions of contact cannot be used as evidence should he go to trial, noting that, legally speaking, it is now as if they "never happened."

Richman, who previously disclosed that Schraufnagel has cancer, cited her client's illness and a "compromised immune system" for his absence on Thursday.

Schraufnagel is also currently out of state, Richman told Kraus.

Previous coverage of Schraufnagel can be read here.

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