Naman Shrestha
Investigation Discovery’s ‘Evil Educator’ explores the unsettling crimes of a former school director named Mark Kandel, who reportedly tried to solicit inappropriate relations with teenage boys by sending them inappropriate messages online. His wife, Marisa Burke, and two daughters were shocked to learn about Mark’s disturbing deeds, for which he was eventually apprehended. The documentary also features in-depth interviews with the affected survivors and the officials who helped bring Mark to justice.
Mark Kandel Led a Double Life and Sent Sexual Texts to Teen Males
The resident of Peckville, Pennsylvania, Mark Kandel, was leading a seemingly picture-perfect life with his wife, Marisa Burke, with whom he shared two daughters — Rachael and Sarah. While Marisa was a WNEP-TV anchor, he served as a Scranton School Director after earning a doctorate in special education and learning disabilities. After resigning in 1998, he worked as a behavior management specialist at the Northeast Educational Intermediate Unit #19 in the borough of Archbald. His first run-in with the law enforcement came in the summer of 2008, when he was accused of sending inappropriate text messages to a 17-year-old boy.
While investigating the case, the authorities also learned that he had given alcohol to teens during a house party, which led to him being charged with furnishing alcohol to minors. As a result, in October 2008, he pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to 90 days of house arrest, followed by nine months on probation. The court also ordered him not to have any teenagers in his home without permission from court officials and not to consume alcohol during the length of his sentence. About four years later, the authorities received complaints from a 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy and their respective parents, alleging that Mark had sent sexual messages to the two teenagers.
The detectives then went undercover and received around 900 text messages discussing sending naked pictures from Mark to the kid’s phone in October 2012 alone. Armed with enough evidence against the former Scranton School Director, the police arrested him in November 2012 on three felony charges, including criminal solicitation to create child pornography. After he was indicted on five counts of online enticement of a minor in Lackawanna County Court in December 2012, his bail was set at $20,000.
Mark Kandel is Out of Prison But Under Supervisation
A few months later, in June 2013, Mark Kandel pleaded guilty to online enticement of a minor, and in exchange, the prosecutors agreed to drop four other counts of online enticement. During the hearing, the prosecution presented evidence that showed how Mark had sent more than 13,000 messages, most of them being sexual and inappropriate, to 17 minor males in 2012. He ended up admitting to the allegations against him. Finally, on October 28, 2013, his sentencing hearing took place. Mark took the stand and stated, “I take full responsibility for my inappropriate behavior. I have fallen as low as a person can fall. I lost my family, friends, reputation, employment and freedom. I express deep regrets for the pain and suffering I have caused them.”
Her younger daughter, Sarah, also addressed the court, speaking against her father. Feeling betrayed and disgusted by his crimes, she said, “This man, who I’m now ashamed to call my father, went after my own friends. He’s the epitome of selfishness. Not once has he apologized or given us an explanation of what he did.” One of the recipients, a former Valley View High School student, of his inappropriate texts also took the stand and shared how he and other teens were promised money in exchange for talking to him. In the end, Mark Kandel was sentenced to 14 and a half years in prison, to be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release. On top of that, he was also registered as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
In 2014, his wife, Marisa Burke, officially divorced him and severed all ties with him. In December 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mark filed a motion for compassionate release, highlighting that he had multiple health issues, including asthma and sarcoidosis, that put him at a greater risk in case he contracted the virus. He also requested a hearing to present evidence and testimony and support his claims. However, the court denied his motion. At the time, he was serving his sentence at FCI Fort Dix in New Hanover Township, New Jersey, with a projected release date of April 2025. As of today, the 66-year-old sex offender has been released from prison and is living under constant supervision.
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