By Marlyn Montilla
04 Feb 2024, 09:39 AM EST
A part-time worker who worked at a Harlem public school was accused of sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl for 11 months and faces charges of taking pornographic photographs of the girl, Manhattan police and prosecutors reported.
Identified as Miles McNeal, 25, he was put behind bars at Rikers Island on Saturday on charges of using a minor in a sexual performance, sexual abuse and other misdemeanors, court records say.
The criminal pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court and was ordered arrested on $75,000 cash bail or $200,000 bail.
Investigators with the Manhattan Child Abuse Squad arrested the man on Thursday.
Detectives believe McNeal began abusing the child at a school on W. 112th St. on Sept. 8, 2022, when he first raped her and took nude photographs of her, officials said.
The man’s abuse continued at the school until August 18, 2023, during which time he attacked the minor again and again, took more photographs of her and showed her pornographic images of other naked children, prosecutors said.
The New York Police Department did not reveal the name of the school where the abuse occurred.
However, a part-time teacher at the public school on W. 112th St. said McNeal taught film classes until he was fired.
The teacher described McNeal as diminutive and withdrawn, and noted that he did not appear to be a sexual predator, the Daily News reported.
“He was a very gentle, soft-spoken, reserved type of person,” said the professor, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “He was not agitating or intimidating.”
The teacher said the defendant was fired shortly after meeting him. After McNeal was fired he approached him looking for work as a camera operator and editor.
When the teacher told the other teachers at school that McNeal had contacted him, they warned him to stay away from him.
“Someone spoke to me from school,” said the teacher. That person told him: “Don’t work with him. He is going to be under investigation because he allegedly took photographs.”
The teacher was surprised to learn the magnitude of the district attorney’s accusations against the subject. “I hope the accusations are not true,” the teacher said. “That’s the only thing I can really say. I hope that is not true”.
Keep reading:
- Sexual abuse in New York schools: 56 former students accuse retired teacher
- Police used a 9-year-old girl in sexual photographs and videos with Hispanic accomplices: accusation in New York
- NJ teacher who had sex with a young man avoided jail because of letters of support from other students