Who is Gabriel Mitey? Outrage after 'pervert' NYC high school teacher back in classroom under new name
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY: A high school teacher who was fired from a high school in New York City for behaving inappropriately with students and posting an almost nude selfie on Snapchat is back in the classroom at another prestigious Manhattan school using a different last name, seemingly with the approval of the city Department of Education (DOE), reported New York Post. In 2021, Gabriel Mitey, 28, a special education certified teacher, worked at the Lower Manhattan Arts Academy (LOMA), where a number of children reported his strange behavior to other staff members.
Mitey has changed his name to Gabriel Torres after allegations of inappropriate behavior with students. Despite being the target of five different probes, the teacher continues to teach algebra and earth science courses at the prestigious 6–12 Professional Performing Arts School (PPAS) in Midtown. He is referred to as "Mr Torres" in a picture posted on the cafeteria bulletin board.
READ MORE
Leah Queen: Gentry school teacher befriended student, 17, had sex with him in her office
Insiders claim that the teacher was originally identified as Mitey by a PPAS mother who had another child enrolled at LOMA in 2021. Students quickly spread the word and informed their parents about the allegations against Mitey, as per New York Post. Parents claimed that when questioned, a guidance counselor and school principal Kevin Ryan admitted that "Torres" is Mitey. This autumn, Ryan informed the parents that the school required a special education teacher and the DOE sent "Torres," who, according to Ryan, "came highly recommended."
Ryan emphasized that the DOE had not revealed to him that Torres was actually Mitey or about the teacher's difficult past until he had made a formal request to superiors. A father who found out about the ruse remarked, "He feels the DOE played him." The father anonymously told New York Post, "I believe in second chances, but not when it comes to kids. I don’t want to risk my daughter in that type of situation."
Parents and pupils have been informed that Mitey has not been accused of misbehavior. In 2020 and 2021, Mitey was the subject of five investigations, according to the municipal schools' Special Commissioner of Investigation.
Three cases were closed by SCI, and two were submitted to the DOE, according to a spokesperson.
Mitey's mother works for the city's Health Department, while Mitey's father is a retired teacher from the city.
Principal Derek Premo, who is still the subject of a sexual harassment complaint, decided to keep Mitey on at LOMA in 2021 instead of removing him from the school while an inquiry was conducted, as is customary in cases of alleged sexual misbehavior. Premo resigned in March 2021. In August 2021, the DOE finally removed Mitey from the school due to "extremely disturbing allegations," following inquiries.
In one instance, a student reported that Mitey bullied him while providing remote education and then invited the teen to his residence "for coffee" after graduation. "He basically asked me on a date. I felt so uncomfortable going to his Zoom classes," said the student.
In another instance, student Jolissa Jones said Mitey got her mother's consent to videotape her for a master's degree course before having Jolissa act as though she was having trouble reading on the tape. Jolissa claimed that Mitey sent her flirtatious texts after she graduated, telling her to remove their conversations. "Chat has got to disappear," he wrote.
As per New York Post report, in addition, Mitey shared a picture of himself in a restroom with a towel just barely covering his groin on Snapchat, which was seen by several students who followed him online, according to Jolissa. After being removed by DOE for several months, Mitey was returned to LOMA, but students protested by putting up papers that read, "Mitey Must Go!" During a music assembly, an adolescent came onto the stage and shouted, "We don't want any pervert teachers," a LOMA father reportedly said.