31-Year-Old Brooklyn Teacher Arrested For Allegedly Kissing, Touching Former Student

A 31-year-old New York City teacher has ended up behind bars after a former student accused him of kissing and inappropriately touching her.

Steven Perez was arrested around 11.19 a.m. in Brooklyn on Thursday. He has been charged with acting in a manner injurious to a child and harassment, reported New York Daily News. The abuse continued for four years, according to the victim.

The student, now 19, approached police alleging that the abuse occurred when she was his student. According to police, the incident happened at Fort Hamilton High School in Bay Ridge from 2017 to this past June.

Perez allegedly kissed the teen when she was just 15. Around the same time in another incident, Perez grabbed the teen's waist and touched her stomach and thighs, the victim alleged. The victim is no longer his student.

After the incident came to light, a spokesperson for the Department of Education issued a statement. It read that Perez was reassigned from the school as the department takes "the necessary procedures" to terminate him.

"The safety of our students is our top priority, and we are cooperating fully with the police department to assist with the investigation," the spokesperson added in the statement.

Perez was to be arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court, reports added.

Several such incidents were reported in New York schools over the last year. A month ago, a Brooklyn teacher was arrested for allegedly kissing a 13-year-old boy on the lips at school. Michael D’Anna, 41, allegedly kissed the student at school, prompting a shocked assistant principal who witnessed the act to immediately call police.

D'Anna, a tenured teacher, was charged with sexual abuse of a child and terminated from the school.

Last week, another teacher was accused of groping a student in a New York school. Miguel Semidey, 42, was arrested last week on charges of forcible touching, sexual abuse, and acting in a manner injurious to a child.

Police said the victim, a Williamsburg Prep High, walked into a police precinct last Thursday and told officers that Semidey grabbed her chest. He was arrested off the school grounds the next day.