By Dustin Brown and Brian M. Rafferty
A former Queens public school teacher who writes a newsletter for Resurrection-Ascencion Roman Catholic Church in Rego Park was arrested Friday for allegedly luring teenage boys into his Elmhurst home to pose in nude photographs and perform sexual acts, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Nicholas Pascale, 52, is accused of offering teenagers he found on the street up to $2,500 for “getting into adult entertainment,” according to criminal complaints filed by the district attorney’s office.
Pascale was arraigned Friday on charges of endangering the welfare of a child, sexual abuse and attempted use of a child in a sexual performance, and he remained in custody with bail set at $250,000, a spokeswoman for the Queens district attorney said.
In each case, Pascale is accused of accosting teenage boys from his car and inviting them home with offers of money for posing nude, the DA said.
While one teenager ultimately stripped down to be photographed in Pascale’s home at 60-16 75th St. in Elmhurst, south of the Long Island Expressway, two more fled his house after seeing him slip powder into their drinks and a fourth rejected his repeated streetside solicitations, the complaint said.
Law enforcement sources said Pascale had been employed as a city public school teacher until 1994, when he left on disability.
According to a biography on the Resurrection-Ascencion Web site, Pascale taught in New York City’s public schools for 19 years and has a long history of supervising children both as a teacher for the Catholic church and a lector in charge of altar boys. He also writes the church’s “More Good News” newsletter.
A spokeswoman for the Resurrection Ascension church declined to comment on Pascale.
In early January Pascale allegedly convinced a 15-year-old boy to step into his red Chevrolet Cavalier and return to his home, where he showed off computerized pictures of naked boys he claimed to have previously photographed, according to the complaint. The boy agreed to remove his clothes and have his picture taken in exchange for an offer of $300 to $1,000, but he refused Pascale’s offer to perform oral sex on him, the complaint said.
In the most recent incident on May 22, Pascale allegedly inappropriately touched one teenage boy after he and his cousin stepped into the red Chevy at 65th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Woodside, according to the complaint. Once at Pascale’s home, the boy used a false name and address to sign a form consenting to be photographed, but then fled with his cousin when they saw Pascale pour powder into an alcoholic drink he was preparing for them, the complaint said.
A total of 33 such signed consent forms were found by police when they searched his apartment last week, the complaint said.
Pascale is also accused of repeatedly approaching one 15-year-old boy as he walked to school along 69th Street between Woodside and Maspeth on separate occasions over the last two months, the complaint said. The boy allegedly refused offers of up to $2,500 and ultimately jotted down Pascale’s license plate number after the latest encounter on May 21, the DA said.
Although Board of Education spokesman Kevin Ortiz said he had no record of Pascale’s employment in the system, an official at School District 24 confirmed that Pascale worked at PS 13 in Elmhurst until 1994, at which point he left the district and retired. He had also previously worked at IS 77 in Ridgewood. “There was no cloud when he left,” the official said. “He just retired.”
A former teacher from the district who asked not to be named confirmed that Pascale had worked at PS 13 as a substitute teacher with a license to teach English as a Second Language, but ultimately went on disability leave with an apparent knee injury once he earned his full teaching credentials.
The Resurrection-Ascencion Web site said Pascale was an altar boy as a child and as an adult served as a lector in charge of altar boys at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel for six years, but the location of the church was not specified. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and aided in the preparation of Pope John Paul II’s chalices during a visit to Aqueduct Raceway in the 1990s, the Web site states.
Pascale’s biography on the Resurrection-Ascension Web site says “he’s taught CCD since he was 15 and is one of our Children’s Liturgy of the Word Ministers.”
CCD stands for Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, which is a class young children attend before receiving Holy Communion. The Children’s Liturgy of the Word is a segment during normal church services where children typically are taken into a separate room from the rest of the congregation and taught the sermon for the week in words they are more likely to understand.
In addition to his church activity, Pascale, who has been married to his wife Mary since 1984, graduated from the High School of Art and Design in 1968, according to his biography on the Web site.
On an Internet search, it was found that a note he signed to his fellow high school classmates listed his e-mail address as MrMouth@prodigy.net. A secondary search of his e-mail address turned up multiple gay porn Web sites in which a writer identifying himself as Nick, MrMouth@prodigy.net, wrote what were described as “autobiographical” stories of his teen years involving gay trysts, bestiality and other sex acts. The e-mail address matches the one listed on the Art & Design alumni Web site as well as the church’s.
The church biography lists Pascale’s hobbies: “He collects books, movies, Beanie Babies, toys especially LEGO and vacation souvenirs. He loves photography and has over 10,000 slides and over 50 photo albums.”
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
