Thaindian News

New York, Sep 27 (IANS) Parents at a school in New York were stunned when a 30-year-old teacher, who has a Master’s degree in fine arts, revealed she was a former sex worker.
Melissa Petro, a former hooker and stripper, has been teaching arts in a Bronx elementary school for the past three years, The New York Post reported Monday.

The arts teacher, apparently “well-liked” by both parents and students, has posted online accounts of her previous jobs in Mexico and London, where she worked as a prostitute.

“From October 2006 to January 2007, I accepted money in exchange for sexual services I provided to men I met online,” Petro wrote in a blog using her real name and picture on The Huffington Post.

The attached profile identifies Petro as a “former sex worker, researcher, writer, educator and feminist”.

However, parents were shocked when she revealed details about her job.

“I don’t want nobody that used to do that to be around my kid,” said a parent named Grace Ventura. “People like that should not be allowed to be anywhere near children.”

Yocelyn Quezada said perhaps Petro managed to turn her life around, but the idea of her being a former hooker was still not acceptable.

“She’s not a good role model. I do not want my daughters to find out about this,” Quezada said, “and I do not want my daughters to be around that kind of person.”

The principal of the school, Kerry Castellano, meanwhile, said Petro had been reassigned to administrative duties pending an investigation.