By Patrick Hedlund and Trevor Kapp
DNAinfo Staff
BROOKLYN — A gym teacher at a Prospect Heights high school was arrested Tuesday on sex assault charges, police said.
Esran Boothe, 49, who works at the Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment (BASE) on Classon Avenue, was charged with forcible touching and third-degree sexual abuse, the NYPD said.
Information about the victim and the circumstances surrounding the alleged abuse were not immediately clear.
Students at the school had mixed reactions about the arrest.
"He's kind of creepy," said Xzavier Loucks, 16, a sophomore, who claimed to have Boothe as a teacher. "He acts weird every now and then."
But Adrien Graham, 17, a senior, said Boothe appeared to be harmless.
"I don't believe that," Graham said. "I can't picture him doing that.
"If he touches you, it's by the shoulder like, 'All right, good job," Graham added. "He's a nice person and an easy grader."
Boothe came to BASE in February 2006 on a part-time basis before moving there permanently in August of that year, Department of Education officials said.
He previously worked at another school at the location and one on Long Island prior to that, the DOE added.
He was placed on administrative reassignment by the department on Friday.
"We have been crystal clear about the consequences for this kind of behavior," Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said in a statement.
"A staff member who violates the trust of our students and families does not deserve to work in our schools — period. Anyone who does will be removed and we will do everything in our power to make sure they never work here again."
