Española Police are investigating two unrelated cases of suspected inappropriate teacher-student conduct, one at Fairview Elementary and another at McCurdy High School.
The parents of a Fairview Elementary student referred to police a complaint from their fifth-grade daughter that teacher Gary Gregor had sexually abused her and other students, Sgt. Christian Lopez said.
Gregor, who teaches fourth grade at Fairview, was placed on administrative leave May 15 while the Española School District Superintendent investigates the allegations, David Cockerham confirmed.
“What pisses me off is the same allegations happened when he was at Mountain View (Elementary) and all the school did was transfer him,” Lopez said.
Cockerham declined to say whether Gregor had been transferred, or how long he has worked for the District. Cockerham is also the District’s human resources director, and oversees hiring, background checks and staffing issues.
Lopez said Det. Bryan Martinez interviewed the student alleging the abuse, and police are currently investigating Gregor. Police have so far identified three potential victims, and are trying to locate more before speaking to Gregor, Lopez said. No charges have been filed in the case.
Gregor is being paid an annual salary of $44,403, and has been with the District since at least 2005, according to SUN reports.
Gregor did not return a call for comment.
Police have identified one potential 15-year-old male victim in an unrelated case allegedly involving a former McCurdy English teacher.
Lopez said that case will be more difficult to investigate because McCurdy administrators failed to report the case and attempted to handle it themselves.
“It was a Board member that actually came forward and said, ‘There’s some stuff you guys need to look at,’” Lopez said. “The school kind of stepped on the case for us. They kind of did things backwards. They thought they were doing the right thing.”
Administrators did not return calls to police until after firing or attempting to question the former teacher, who at the time lived on campus, Lopez said. The teacher resigned May 15 upon being questioned, and was evicted by the school the same day.
McCurdy Principal Ken Martinez confirmed only that the teacher lived at the school for three years, and no longer lives or works there.