Bronx after-school worker arrested on child sex abuse charges

EAST TREMONT (WABC) -- Police have arrested a Bronx teacher's aide on allegations of sexually abusing children at an after-school program.

According to authorities, 21-year-old Steven Walters, a former teacher working with the nonprofit Good Shepherd Services, was found to have sexually assaulted at least three students at The School of Science and Applied Learning (PS 300).

The victims are said to be two 8-year-old girls and a 7-year-old girl.

Walters was immediately removed from the classroom and suspended. Subsequent probes by both the NYPD and the Special Commissioner of Investigation for New York City schools, finally led Walters to confess.

"He tells us what happened with student A, what happened with student B. So now we have a confession," said Special Commissioner Richard Condon.

That confession led to Walters' arrest last month. Among the charges against him are sex abuse in the first degree.

In a just released report, the Special Commissioner found evidence that the aide sexually abused the two 8-year olds on multiple occasions and inappropriately touched the 7-year old.

"He said at one point he knows he needs help and that he can't do this by himself. And he also knows that he may go to prison for a long time," said Condon.

The mother of one of the victims said her daughter enrolled in the after-school program in September of 2013.

Good Shepherd's teachers, including Walters, supervised children after school until their parents picked them up around 6 p.m., according to a lawsuit filed by the mother.

The alleged incidents began in November and reportedly included Walters forcing the students to perform oral sex.

One of the victims told her parents, who contacted school officials and the police.

Authorities are asking that anyone else who may have had inappropriate contact with Walters contact them immediately.

The community-based group that runs the after school program released a statement: "The safety of our students at Good Shepherd Services is of the utmost concern to us. We are investigating the allegations that have been made."