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Nikos Assimakopoulos, age 25, of Albany, was convicted of rape and other charges by a Schenectady County jury on Friday, July 28, following a four-day trial.
According to prosecutors, Assimakopoulos began messaging the 16-year-old victim on social media in November 2019, while he worked as a student teacher at Catholic Central High School in Troy.
At the time, he was 21 years old and pursuing a degree in English education from the College of Saint Rose.
The two eventually met in Niskayuna and repeatedly engaged in sexual intercourse, prosecutors said. The contact continued after the victim turned 17, the legal age of consent in New York.
In March 2021, the victim reported the abuse to Niskayuna Police, saying she decided to come forward because Assimakopoulos had been hired as a full-time teacher at Catholic Central High School.
Detectives were able to corroborate the girl’s account through text messages and conversations the two had on Instagram, according to prosecutors.
In court Friday, Assimakopoulos was found guilty of the following:
- Rape (felony)
- Criminal sexual act (felony)
- Endangering the welfare of a child (misdemeanor)
He was acquitted of an additional count of rape and two additional counts of criminal sexual act.
Assimakopoulos faces up to eight years in prison and up to 10 years if post-release supervision. He will also have to register as a sex offender.
He is scheduled to be sentenced in Schenectady County Court on Friday, Sept. 22.
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