By Sarah Tan, Paul Lomax, Leslie Albrecht and Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo Staff
MANHATTAN — A teacher's aide at a highly regarded Upper West Side elementary school who neighbors said has a history of questionable relationships with young boys forced an 8-year-old student to expose himself last week after making the child undress multiple times at the school, court documents revealed.
Gregory Atkins, 56, who was arrested Friday on sexual abuse charges, led the boy to a bathroom stall at P.S. 87 four times during the school day on Thurs., Feb., 2, forcing the child to undress and touching the boy’s body while telling him he was searching for bruises, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.
Atkins, who was arraigned Saturday on charges of first-degree sexual abuse and attempted criminal sexual act, later brought the same boy to the school’s auditorium and told him to expose himself, the criminal complaints said.
He then asked to perform a sex act on the child before doubling back to tell the boy he was lying, the complaint added.
Atkins also massaged the child’s back while the boy’s shirt was off and rubbed his thigh over his clothing near the student’s groin, the complaint said.
The school's principal notified parents of the incident in a letter sent to families Friday.
Atkins had been investigated previously for having an inappropriate relationship with a male student at another school in upper Manhattan, though no charges were brought against him in that case, according to the Department of Education.
News of his arrest did not come as a huge shock to neighbors at Atkins' Harlem apartment who described the man as “peculiar” and a “loner,” claiming he often had young boys over to his place.
Peggy Saunders, 47, who has lived next door to Atkins for the last 19 years, said adolescent boys regularly hung around the school aide’s sixth-floor apartment.
“I thought they were like his nephews, because there's always some little boy there — like 16, 17, 18 [years old] — there was always somebody there,” Saunders said.
“I have two children, a daughter and a son, and they were always spooked by him," she added. "When they grew up and went away, he'd never ask about my daughter — he'd always ask only about my son.”
Saunders said at one point a few years ago, the number of boys Atkins had over started to worry her, but her daughter told her not to meddle.
“I was saying to my daughter about the new boys that Mr. Gregory had, and she said, ‘Ma, do not get yourself involved in that,’” the neighbor explained.
Saunders noted that Atkins also brought over a few “rough and tumble” young boys who at one point vandalized the apartment complex in 2007.
Another neighbor, who lives below Atkins’ apartment and said he has known the alleged attacker since they were children, said he wasn’t surprised to hear about his arrest.
“He was a loner, people were always suspecting…” said David Vernon, 56. “I only saw him with a young boy one time, but I knew it wasn't his nephew.”
Atkins, who did not speak during his appearance at Manhattan Criminal Court Saturday, is being held on $150,000 cash bail and $250,000 bond.
The previous investigation, at M.S. 322 in Inwood, was launched after a student's mother alerted the school's principal that Atkins, then 50, seemed to be spending too much time with her son.
Atkins "lurked" at her son's sports games, took him out to lunch, walked him home from school and extended an "open invitation" to stay over at his house, the mother told investigators.
He also bought the boy wristbands, a jock strap, an athletic cup and rosary beads, according to a report by the DOE's Special Commissioner of Investigation.
The student told investigators that Atkins was "nice" and tried to help him with schoolwork, noting Atkins "never committed any inappropriate behavior or engaged in any touching of" the student.
Investigators eventually determined that Atkins' relationship with the student was inappropriate, but it was not sexual in nature and no charges were filed, a DOE spokeswoman said.
Investigators recommended "appropriate disciplinary action," after the 2006 probe. As a result, the principal had a conference with Atkins, "during which they discussed the nature of the allegations and his behavior, and she set forth detailed guidelines of appropriate job responsibilities," a DOE spokeswoman said.
Two years later, in 2008, Atkins came to work at P.S. 87 as a paraprofessional, or teacher's aide.
When school officials learned of the most recent allegation against him, Atkins was transferred to "a central office location away from students," P.S. 87 Principal Monica Berry told parents in the letter sent Friday.
“We have a responsibility to preserve a safe and nurturing environment in our schools, and we take this allegation very seriously," Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said in a statement Friday. "Today, I visited P.S. 87 to offer my support to Principal Berry, and pledged to cooperate fully in the ongoing police investigation.”
Atkins has worked for the school system since 2001 as both a substitute teacher and paraprofessional, according to the DOE. He also worked at M218 (I.S. 218 Salome Urena), and M187 (P.S./I.S. 187 Hudson Cliffs), and M.S. 246 Walt Whitman in Brooklyn, according to the DOE.
P.S. 87 will hold a meeting for parents on Monday at 8:30 a.m., when the Manhattan District Attorney's office will answer questions, according to Berry's letter. She warned parents in the note that the Manhattan District Attorney's office or police may contact them to determine if their children were involved or were witnesses to the alleged abuse.
