Creepy Teacher with Hidden Identity, Ousted At New School

A teacher has been pulled out of a Manhattan school, where he works as a special-ed teacher by the Department of Education, after parents and students learned he had a history of inappropriate texting, flirting with teens, and posting a near-naked selfie under a different name.

Gabriel Mitey, 28, came highly recommended to the 6-12 Professional Performing Arts School in Midtown while assuming the name “Gabriel Torres.”

The DOE fired Mitey on Monday and released a public statement.

“As of today, Oct. 31, Mr. Torres is no longer on the PPAS staff, and he will not return to PPAS, nor to any DOE school,” Principal Kevin Ryan said in a note to families, citing “a sizable amount of concern” about the teacher.

Many parents were relieved to see the principals statement and to know their children were no longer at threat by being around Mitey.

“I feel more comfortable now that my daughter is in a school without that potential problem,” a student’s dad said. “I don’t think anything would have gotten done if it wasn’t for the press. We had to reach out to The New York Post.”

The DOE sent Mitey to PPAS last April when Ryan said he needed a special-ed teacher. He later told parents the DOE had deceived him, and that his hands were tied.

Mitey, whose father is a DOE teacher and mother a Health Department employee, previously worked at the Lower Manhattan Arts Academy. He was the subject of five probes for alleged misconduct in 2020 and 2021.

According to the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools, they referred two cases to the DOE, but released no findings.

The DOE did not answer any questions about Mitey, including whether it will seek to terminate him or keep him on the city payroll.

A LOMA staffer said, “He should have been removed after students first confided their discomfort with the teacher. Students spoke to investigators, showing Mitey’s text messages and the bathroom selfie in which a towel barely covered his groin.”

“After kids came forward with that photo he’d sent through Snapchat, I was shocked that he was ever let back into the classroom, let alone given a glowing recommendation and a new position,” the staffer said. “The DOE needs to do better.”