An Arlington high school teacher is facing a charge of sexual assault of a child under 17 after being accused of a relationship with a 16-year-old girl in 1999.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed Oct. 18, 51-year-old Gregory Peters was arrested after being accused of having oral sex with a teenage girl when he was 33.
The affidavit said the victim, now 35, and her friend met Peters at his request nearly 20 years ago after they placed a series of prank calls to his Arlington home.
After learning he was a high school teacher and coach in Kennedale, the girls, who were 16 and in the 10th grade, spent several evenings with Peters being tutored.
The victim and her friend also told police that while at Peters' home they would play with his dog and that he would show them wrestling and tickling moves. According to the affidavit he would also allow them to style his hair and paint his fingernails. As they grew closer, the girls even spent a night in his guest room.
On a subsequent visit, the victim went to dinner alone with Peters to celebrate his birthday and was later introduced to Peters' brother as his girlfriend -- as a sophomore student at the University of North Texas and not a high school student.
Later that night, after sneaking into an apartment complex hot tub, the pair returned to his Arlington home where the affidavit said he, "talked her into providing him oral sex."
In an interview with detectives, Peters admitted to knowing the girl and spending time with her but said they never had oral sex.
Eight days after the investigation into the 1999 incident began, the U.S. Marshals North Texas Fugitive Task Force arrested Peters Wednesday and he was booked into the Arlington City Jail. Peters was later freed after posting $5,000 bond.
Officials with the Arlington ISD said Peters, who was removed from campus and placed on leave, has worked for the district since 2012 and that there were no issues in his background that would have indicated any concerns.
Peters was most recently a teacher at Arlington's Martin High School where his cached teacher web page listed his duties as: Advanced Placement (PAP/AP) Department; STEM Department; Math Department; Athletics Department; STEM Pre-AP Pre-Calculus; Pre-AP Geometry; UIL Number Sense and Tennis.
According to the cached AISD page, Peters has a bachelor's in political science with a minor in math from Texas A&M University.
Prior to working in the Arlington Independent School District, Peters worked for the Kennedale and Burleson school districts, the latter of which released the following statement:
"We were able to verify this former employee worked from August 2010 to May 2012. We followed our background check procedure and found no information that would prevent him from employment when he was hired. His employment records, with the exception of those required to be kept for 75 years, have been destroyed in compliance with the Texas State Records Retention Schedule, so we have no further information."
Investigators said due to the nature of the offense they have not ruled out the possibility that there may be additional victims. Anyone with information about Peters or any related case is asked to contact the Arlington Police Department. Members of the public with additional information may contact Crimes Against Children Unit, Detective Alan Branch at 817-795-9992 ext. 105. Tipsters can also remain anonymous by contacting Tarrant County Crime Stoppers at 817-469-TIPS.
