John Jay Suspends Professors Amid Misconduct Claims, Reports Say

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Four professors at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice have been suspended by the publicly-funded school after former students claimed the faculty members were involved in campus drug dealing, intimidating students into prostitution and rape, according to reports.

Professors Anthony Marcus, Richard S. Curtis, Barry Spunt and Leonardo Dominguez were placed on administrative leave and have not returned to the school for the fall semester, the New York Times reported. The offices of the inspector general and the Manhattan district attorney have launched criminal investigations into the alleged misconduct and crimes of the educators, according to the report.

State investigators want to know why the school, which is part of the City Univeristy of New York system and has close ties to law enforcement, contacted police and prosecutors months after learning of the allegations in May, the Times reported. John Jay conducted its own internal investigation before taking any action, according to the report.

A spokesman for the school told the Times that "the safety of the John Jay community is of utmost importance to us."

Two former John Jay students spoke with the New York Post about their experiences with the four suspended faculty members. Naomi Haber, 24, and Claudia Cojocaru, 39, — who now teaches at John Jay as an adjunct professor — said the four professors created a raucous environment known as "The Swamp" in one of the school's Midtown buildings.

At the center of the misconduct was Curtis, who has been with the John Jay anthropology department for three decades, the students told the Post. Curtis was involved in selling drugs from his office and attempted to convince Haber to travel with prospective hires as a date and "convince" them to take jobs at the school, the former student told the Post.

Haber accused Marcus, the one-time chair of the school's anthropology department, of violently raping her when she was 21-years-old at a conference in Washington D.C., the Post reported. Haber also told the publication that she had a sexual encounter with Marcus months before the rape after he plied her with alcohol.

Dominguez and Spunt were accused of sexual misconduct such as groping, fondling themselves in front of students and bragging about sexual conquests in front of students, according to the Post.

Cojocaru told the Times that John Jay officials were "rude and victim-degrading" to the former students while investigating the claims. The adjunct professor at the school told the newspaper that the officials "tried to brush the whole thing under the rug," and "retraumatized us by making us relive all sorts of traumatic experiences."

Lawyers representing the four professors released statements denying all of the allegations, the Times reported.

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