Teacher's Aide Accused of Raping Boy

(Queens, New York) A 55-year-old teacher's aide at PS196, Lois Cheryl Enden, was arrested Thursday for allegedly raping an 11-year-old boy repeatedly eight years ago. The boy, now a teen, remembered the abuse after a chance sighting of Enden.

Authorities said the teen had been silent about allegedly having sex with Enden on numerous occasions in 1999 and 2000 until he spotted her walking her dog early last month while he was playing football with friends in Forest Hills.

A friend with whom he shared his story convinced the teen, now a high-school senior, to go to police, authorities said. A police report was filed on April 7, and an investigation ensued.

The boy was fitted with a wire and allegedly recorded Enden apologizing for her actions, prosecutors said.

She told the teen she "regretted it all these years," and that she was abused herself by her sixth-grade teacher, and perhaps was "mirroring" that experience, according to Assistant District Attorney Ken Applebaum.

Enden has been charged with multiple counts of rape and sodomy. She was booked and released on $100,000 bail.

Hmm ... Enden had an extended series of sexual episodes with the boy at her home and at his house, ending only when he graduated from the fifth-grade. It seems entirely possible that there may be other victims. After all, there was a void in her life after the boy graduated.


[Update 07/24/07]

Enden pleads guilty and is sentenced.