I’m proud of him, the dad testified today of a brave nine-year-old boy who stood up to an alleged sex-molesting school aide at the Upper West Side’s PS 87 last year.
The boy had taken the stand Friday to describe the alleged abuse at the hands of aide Gregory Atkins, 56, angrily confronting the defense attorney during cross examination by shouting, “Stop being a bully!”
In his own turn on the stand today, the kid’s father, an educator, described to jurors how his son complained to him of Atkins on the night of the alleged abuse in a manner largely consistent with the kid’s witness stand account a year later.
The troubled child had needed counseling three times a week after the incident, but now, “He is doing better than he’s ever done before,” the dad told a Manhattan Supreme Court jury, where Atkins is fighting first degree sex abuse and felony child porn possession charges.
“He’s very extroverted, very curious,” the dad told jurors of his son. “I’m very proud of him,” testified the dad, whose name is being withheld to protect the identity of the child.
Of the family’s $3 million claim against the Board of Education, the dad said that should a lawsuit be pursued, any money damages would be the child’s. But another motivation of filing suit would be to prompt the BoE to improve background checks on staff, he said.
Atkins was hired at the high performing school despite a history of being reprimanded verbally for inappropriate sexual behavior toward another boy student at his prior school — including giving that child inappropriate gifts including a jock strap.
“I’ve always said he’s a significant improvement on the prior generation,” the dad beamed to reporters, speaking of his son after court. “He’s a great guy.”