Metro

Perv Bronx HS teacher a fallen star

His teaching was praised by former US Education Secretary Rod Paige, he was profiled by CNN and mentioned in a book for his remarkable methods.

Now he’s a registered sex offender.

A top-notch history teacher who gained notoriety for the memorization tricks he taught to impoverished Bronx kids has pleaded guilty to sex abuse, public records show.

A report by city investigators lays out in troubling detail how former Samuel Gompers HS teacher Raemon Matthews coerced a female teen into getting naked in a locked classroom so he could take advantage of her in 2009.

During photo shoots for the girl’s supposed college portfolio, Matthews encouraged the 16-year-old to “look sexier” before saying, “I have to see more,” according to the investigation.

At one point, Matthews, now 58, took off the girl’s underwear and groped her, the probe found.

Matthews was caught after a custodian found the photos on a compact disc in late 2010.

“It was hard for me — it was like a big trauma,” the girl, now a 20-year-old nursing student, told The Post. “I didn’t want anybody to know because I was embarrassed.”

Matthews was sentenced this summer to one year probation, according to Bronx authorities.