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Filed under: News, In The News, Weird But True, Sex, New In Pop Culture
Melissa Petro exposed her prostitution past on The Huffington Post. Credit: Tomas E. Gaston, Splash News
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Melissa Petro, a 30-year-old elementary school art teacher in the Bronx, has admitted that she was a prostitute, the New York Post reports.
Petro revealed her salacious past in an essay on The Huffington Post this month, where she writes, "From October 2006 to January 2007, I accepted money in exchange for sexual services I provided to men I met online in what was then called the 'erotic services' section of Craigslist.org."
Petro used her real name and picture and identified herself as a "former sex worker, researcher, writer, educator and feminist."
Some parents are expressing their outrage that their children were being taught by a former sex worker.
"She's not a good role model. I do not want my daughters to find out about this," says Yocelyn Quezada, the mother of two of Petro's students, "and I do not want my daughters to be around that kind of person."
The Department of Education's press office says Petro had been reassigned to administrative duties pending an investigation, the Post reports.
Petro declined to speak with the Post, but it's clear from her essay that she knew what was at stake. She writes, "I hope to never again make the choice to trade sex for cash even as I risk my current job and social standing to speak out for an individual's right to do so."











ReaderComments (Page 2 of 11)
9-28-2010 @ 9:45AM
Ike said...Im no puritan, but f--- your way through college and then become a teacher is not good for the kids to know.
9-28-2010 @ 12:38PM
Elmo said...So if she still believes that prostitution is completely acceptable behavior, and with no teacher I know happy with their salary and having to pick up a side job to make ends meet, somehow I just don't see her working part time at Wal-mart for minimum wage...
9-28-2010 @ 1:15PM
justme said...Yeah, right, because we know college students don't f*** for money when they are in college. They just give it away for free.
9-28-2010 @ 1:30PM
Ron said...Have you ever seen how teachers act while at a convention? Talk about loose women!! At least this gal is honest and has more honor than her peers in the school system!!!
9-28-2010 @ 6:21PM
ardis said...That this woman is giving her students ready access to articles peddling her career selling sex for cash and openly condones the practice tells parents she's unfit to be a classroom teacher/student role model on the taxpayer's dime. Aren't there enough libertine pervert women teachers in the public schools already influencing kids to make disasterous choices--not to mention when they aren't actually having sex with 12-14 year olds? Parents who are fine with having prostitute teachers openly championing sex trafficking are sending their children a dangerous & irresponsible message. Unfortunately, there are A LOT of moronic & negligent parents out there and their kids are learning by example.
9-28-2010 @ 1:07AM
mia angel said...Melissa Petro is there to teach ART to the students. She's not there for values education or career guidance. If her art skills is a strength of hers that she recognized as something she can use to become a productive and respectable member of society, who are we to deny her that chance. We have all committed our mistakes of the past, mistakes of being a teenager, mistakes even as adults that we are ashamed. What's important is we have atoned for those mistakes, forgiven ourselves, and kept the lessons learned. Here is a woman trying to make it clean by choosing life-changing decisions. Let's not push her back into unacceptable behavior by saying "no" to her attempt to become a good person. Everybody deserves a second chance.
Now the school authorities should make sure that her intentions are right, her actions and teaching methods appropriate. She's there to talk about art and nothing else. Her path ahead is dependent on her choices, her actions and being accountable for them.
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9-28-2010 @ 9:07AM
Don Sherline said...In Reply To: mia angel 9-28-2010 @ 1:07AM
Excuse me but I couldn't read past your second sentence. Regardless of what a teacher's speciality is they certainly do need to instill values and provide guidance.
If an attitude like that is prevalent today it's no wonder so many students (children) are so screwed up.
9-28-2010 @ 9:29AM
Harish said...Arts teacher should know the word 'Audience'. To what audience is her "art" ?. That is the question she should have asked in the circumstances she is in before showing her work of 'art' in writing things. A woman will expose herself fully to her husband, but not to her children! That is OK and proper.Vice-versa is totally unacceptable, is'nt it ?!
She may not deserve to be fired , but at the same time her lack of art puts others in an unenviable position !! There is one consolation-If she is fired then she has herself to blame.
9-28-2010 @ 10:04AM
Dave said...9-28-2010 @ 1:07AM
mia angel said...
Melissa Petro is there to teach ART to the students. She's not there for values education or career guidance. If her art skills is a strength of hers that she recognized as something she can use to become a productive and respectable member of society, who are we to deny her that chance. We have all committed our mistakes of the past, mistakes of being a teenager
QUESS WHAT MIA, TEACHERS ARE ROLE MODELS WHEN THEY ARE AROUND STUDENTS 8 HRS A DAY. ALSO SHE WAS A PROSTITUTE, NOT A MINOR MISTAKE AND SHE IS SPEAKING OUT IN DEFENSE SAYING SHE THINKS PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT. WE ARE NOT DENYING HER A CHANCE - SHE MADE HER OWN CHOICE ESPECIALLY COMING OUT WITH THE ARTICLE. I DON'T SEE REPENTING ON HER BEHALF.
9-28-2010 @ 6:09AM
xwatchmanx said...i think it's ridiculous that ppl are acting like she's a horrible person for something she did in the past, but i also think she's extremely stupid for admitting she did that... yes, it's in the past, but she must know just how freaked out it's going to make her students' parents feel.
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9-28-2010 @ 6:20AM
Steve said...You have got to be kidding me. I would venture to guess that the parents that are "outraged" are the ones that most likely have a past of some sort that would make others neck hair stand on end. Wheta the heck is the problem here? Here is a person that has changed her life from a negative to something positive. What are these parents afraid of, the teacher will take their lunch mony for sexual acts, or that their husbands are too anxious to go to parent teacher night. Get a grip people
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9-28-2010 @ 7:30AM
DB said...Steve's right...what's the big deal. Ok...maybe she'll get a little excited helping a 7 yr old boy in the bathroom, but at least he'll know what oral sex is and be taught from a professional.
9-28-2010 @ 9:38AM
Abraxus said...You missed the point entirely Steve - it's not that she has a dubious sexual past, it's that she isn't ashamed of it AND she thinks prostitution is OK and she would do it again. We don't need teachers who say it's OK to break the law if you feel like it - we need our kids, especially the little ones, to understand that there are rules you don't break, things you don't do, etc. This woman is in a position to influence kids, whether you realize it or not - I remember more of my elementary teachers than the high school ones - and not always for the right reasons. (My fifth grade teacher liked to hit kids and told us not to tell or we would be in trouble and we, the kids, trusted what she said, until a parent saw bruises and it all came out - kids trust adults, especially their teachers, sometimes wrongly!)
9-28-2010 @ 6:27AM
KMA said...Does she have the qualifications for the job? Is she doing a good job? That is all I need. Qualifications might include NOT having a conviction record. If she meets them, move on. I'm more aghast at seeing people vote politicians in with extremely murky records, several failed marriages and the like trying to tell you their the ones for running things when they can't function normally in a household. Those are the ones to worry about.
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9-28-2010 @ 6:40AM
Denis said...Isn't she kind of stupid for revealing her past like that? Why would she do that? Some sort of guilt trip?
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9-28-2010 @ 6:49AM
arnold said...These sort of woman want Taliban and they totally deserve them.The sharia law will be imposed all over the world for these 2 legged animals, even though I am not a muslim.These type of disgusts deserve that.
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9-28-2010 @ 8:26AM
luzbel said...Hey Arnie why so uptight loosen up a bit or better yet don't be such a puritan, I bet your one of those who thinks that masturbating will make you go blind,Geeze dude enjoy an orgasm now then you might find that you might like it.
9-28-2010 @ 7:40AM
luzbel said...Hey Arnie why so uptight loosen up a bit or better yet don't be such a puritan, I bet your one of those who thinks that masturbating will make you go blind,Geeze dude enjoy an orgasm now then you might find that you might like it.
9-28-2010 @ 7:47AM
jjoekiker7 said...Arnold...... After reading your post, if YOU were even in the same building as my child I would make sure you were removed, or do it myself. You seem to know the name of the law that is used to stone women to death, and you agree with that sort of insanity, I hope you die before you multiply!?!?! Idiot!
9-28-2010 @ 6:49AM
Elwood said...I dont understand how small minded people can be so judgemental about an other person.,whether it be someones life style or what that persons past is.
I say leave people alone then just maybe our world would be a better place to live
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