A New York City teacher has been arrested, accused of sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy at school and at his home for months, police say.
Mervyn Affoon, 65, a business teacher at the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism, is facing charges of sex abuse, forcible touching, criminal sex and acting in a manner injurious to a child, according to police.
The abuse allegedly started in February, when the teacher first groped the teen inside their Brooklyn high school, police said. The teen rejected his advance, and the teacher told him not to say anything.
When the teacher groped the student again, the student this time did not object, police said. The teen met Affoon at Affoon's apartment several times, and the teacher gave him money for food.
The teen told his parents about the alleged abuse last weekend.
Affoon was arrested early Tuesday morning. It's not clear if he has an attorney.
The Department of Education said in a statement, "These disturbing allegations have absolutely no place in our schools and represent behavior that violates the trust of students and families."
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Affoon has been reassigned away from students, the DOE said.
Local resident and activist Anthony Beckford said he was upset to hear of the alleged abuse by someone who's supposed to be a trusted figure.
"As a teacher, your duty is to guide, to mold and to protect the children there," he said. "The school is a sense of protection from the streets, so when you continue to mimic some of the most vile things that's happening in the streets, then it shows there's really no protection for our children."
