A math teacher at Martin High School in Arlington has been arrested for an alleged sexual assault of a child more than 19 years ago.
According to an arrest warrant, Gregory Peters engaged in oral sex with a 16-year-old girl he had been tutoring in 1999. The warrant says the sexual assault happened on a March night when Peters was celebrating his birthday.
Before the alleged sexual assault, Peters introduced the girl to his brother and sister-in-law as his girlfriend, and told them she was a sophomore at the University of North Texas, according to the warrant, dated Oct. 23.
The victim made her claims to Arlington officers on Oct. 15.
The relationship between Peters and the victim began when the victim and her friend started prank calling Peters when they were in 10th grade, the victim told detectives. When Peters told the girls he wanted to meet them, they went to his home.
Peters, who was working at Kennedale ISD at the time, then volunteered to tutor the girls in math. Those tutoring sessions, though, would include Peters “randomly” tickling the girls, showing them wrestling moves or letting them cut his hair and paint his nails, according to the warrant.
The victim’s friend told police the girls even spent the night at Peters’ house one time.
On the night of the alleged assault, Peters took the victim to dinner at a Macaroni Grill outside of Arlington “so as not to be recognized by friends,” the victim told police. Peters then snuck her into an apartment complex hot tub and took her to his house, where he asked her to have sex.
The victim refused, but she and Peters did have oral sex, according to the warrant.
The victim’s friend, now a 35-year-old woman identified in the warrant only as a witness, said her interaction with Peters ended when she started dating a boy and she “realized what she was doing was not right” since the girls weren’t telling their parents about the frequent visits to Peters’ house.
A 35-year-old woman who was Peters’ neighbor in 1999 corroborated the claims that the girls were often at Peters’ house. She described Peters to officers as “creepy.”
Peters spoke to officers at Martin High School on Oct. 15. He admitted to letting the girls stay at his house and claimed he took the victim to Macaroni Grill after she had graduated. He denied ever having oral sex with a student.
Peters was put on leave and reported to the Texas Education Agency immediately after AISD was notified of the allegations. The district provided a brief statement to WFAA Wednesday:
“Peters was not an AISD employee when this incident occurred. When Peters was hired in 2012, there were no issues in his background that would have indicated any concerns.”
Peters was taken to the Arlington City Jail and placed on $5,000 bond. Records didn’t show he was still in jail Wednesday evening.
