Rape suspect found dead, suicide likely

Published 9:00 pm Friday, September 30, 2005

NEW YORK – A gym teacher facing the specter of prison on charges that he raped a student was found dead Friday morning, the victim of an apparent suicide.

Lawrence Major, 45, was found shortly before 7 a.m. sitting behind the wheel of a car.

Major was arrested Wednesday and accused of engaging in a three-year sexual relationship with a female student that began in 2002 when she was 14. He had been charged with second- and third-degree rape, as well as child endangerment.

He faced seven years in prison if convicted and would have been required to register as a sex offender.