Former Lynn teacher charged with raping middle school student

A former Lynn educator who was once hailed as one of Amazon’s “teachers of the year” has been charged with sexually abusing a 14-year-old middle schooler.

Tymond Tran, 38, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of aggravated child rape, indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older, exhibiting a child in a nude or lascivious pose, and distributing obscene matter to a minor.

According to the Essex County District Attorney’s Office, the alleged crimes took place while Tran was teaching eighth grade at the Thurgood Marshall Middle School in Lynn during the 2022 to 2023 school year. The student involved was 14 years old at the time, prosecutors said. 

Tran, who most recently taught in Lowell, was released on personal recognizance with orders to wear a GPS monitoring device and remain on house arrest at an address in Attleboro. He is also barred from having unsupervised contact with minors and must submit to random searches of his electronic devices, among other conditions. 

Tran is due back in court Aug. 26. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. 

Lynn officials confirmed Tran worked in the city’s school district between 2021 and 2024, leaving of his own accord without having achieved professional status. 

“We are shocked and disturbed by this news,” Lynn Mayor Jared C. Nicholson and Superintendent of Schools Molly Cohen said in a joint statement. “Our primary concern is for the well-being of the former LPS student. Our hope for that student is healing and justice.”

They added: “We also recognize that this news will be deeply upsetting for students, families, staff, and the broader school community, and we will be making support available as needed. We will continue to fully cooperate with law enforcement and are also conducting our own independent investigation.”

Amazon named Tran one of its Future Engineer Teachers of the Year in 2022, praising him as one of 10 “dynamic teachers who promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the classroom to encourage students to pursue careers in computer science and robotics.”

The award came with a $5,000 cash prize for Tran and a $25,000 grant to expand computer science or robotics education at his school.