A Hispanic math teacher who had sex with a 14-year-old girl says he can’t be sued over it because he treated her like all the other pupils in class

Julio Cesar Benavides was aged 27 and teaching at Richmond Hill High School in Queens, New York, when the pupil became his "girlfriend". Their "romantic relationship" evolved from a "normal teacher-pupil relationship" that turned into a "friendship", court papers said. Benavides, now 32, lost his job and spent almost two years in jail after pleading guilty in 2008 to having unlawful sex with the teenager. He continued to see her after his arrest, official records show. But the girl’s mother has filed a $3 million lawsuit against Benavides in Brooklyn Federal Court. She claims that he violated her daughter’s civil rights because she suffered sexual harassment and a hostile environment at school. The mother also claims her daughter was sexually discriminated against. However Benavides said that their "secret romantic and sexual relationship" happened off school grounds and outside of school hours. Benavides, acting as his own lawyer, denies violating her rights but says that even if he did then this was not in his official capacity as a teacher.