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UWS Teacher's Aide Accused of Sexual Abuse, 2nd Arrest This Week
By
Garth Johnston
Published Feb 10, 2012
Modified Feb 10, 2012
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Feb 10, 2012
Modified Feb 10, 2012
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No wonder Mayor Bloomberg's response to a teacher's aide possibly sexually abusing students in a Brooklyn public school was to essentially say "deal with it." PS 243's Taleek Brooks wasn't the only teacher's aide with boy troubles this week. Turns out a teacher's aide at the very well-regarded Upper West Side school PS 87 has also been accused of sexually abusing his charges.
Monica Berry, the principal of PS 87, sent a letter [PDF] to parents today explaining that 56-year-old Gregory Atkins has been accused of sexually abusing a student at the school. According to the letter, Atkins—who has been working at the school since 2008 and for the Department of Education since 2001, mostly as a sub— was promptly reported to the police and prevented from working with children. Specifics of the charge are not immediately clear but, as the Times notes, this is not the first time Atkins has been accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student. According to a Special Commissioner of Investigation letter [PDF], Atkins had a relationship with a male student at M.S. 322 in 2006 that wasn't quite right, at least as far as his mother was concerned:
The student’s mother told investigators that Mr. Atkins gave the boy gifts including a jockstrap and wrist straps. She said he offered to baby-sit for the boy whenever necessary, noting that he had an extra bedroom, a Play Station and a computer for him to use.
Mr. Atkins, who was not the boy’s teacher, was constantly “lurking” at the boy’s sports games, the mother said, and once, he walked the boy home and then sat down on her couch to watch television. Both the boy and Mr. Atkins told investigators there was no sexual contact between them.
Because there was no proof that the relationship was sexual, no charges were filed against Atkins and he pretty much got off with just a verbal warning. Now, just for fun, let's all remember Bloomberg's quote from Wednesday: "The school system’s something like 125,000 people, and I don’t think it’s practical to think there isn’t going to be somebody doing despicable things. There are some sick people in the world, and you just have to learn to deal with them."
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