WORKER AT SCHOOL HELD IN KID-SEX RAP

Girl, 8, abused over 11 months

A former part-time worker at a Harlem public school is accused of sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl over 11 months — and of taking pornographic photos of the child, police sources and Manhattan prosecutors say.

Miles McNeal, 25, a Yonkers resident, was held at Rikers Island on Saturday on charges of using a child in a sexual performance, sex abuse, and other lesser counts, records show.

He pleaded not guilty at arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday, and was ordered held on bail of $75,000 cash or $200,000 bond.

Detectives with the Manhattan Child Abuse Squad arrested McNeal on Thursday.

Investigators believe McNeal began targeting the girl at a school on W. 112th St. on Sept. 8, 2022, when he first molested and took nude pictures of her, prosecutors said.

McNeal’s abuse of the victim continued at the school until Aug. 18, 2023, during which time he repeatedly assaulted the girl, took obscene pictures of her and showed her pornographic images of other naked children, according to prosecutors.

Police withheld the name of the school where the abuse occurred.

But a part-time teacher at a public school on W. 112th St. said McNeal ran an after-school film class there until he was fired in November.

The teacher described McNeal as diminutive and withdrawn, and said that he didn’t seem like a predator.

“He was a very mild-mannered, soft-spoken, reserved kind of guy,” said the teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “He wasn’t flailing or intimidating.”

The part-time teacher said McNeal was fired shortly after he met him. After the firing, the teacher said, McNeal reached out to him seeking work as a camera operator and editor.

When the part-time teacher told other faculty at the school that McNeal had contacted him, he was warned to steer clear of the now-accused pedophile.

“Somebody spoke to me from the school,” the teacher recounted. That person told him: “Don’t do work with him. He’s going to be under investigation because he allegedly took pictures.”

The teacher was shocked when a Daily News reporter relayed the breadth of the DA’s allegations against the suspect.

“I hope that the accusations are not true,” the teacher said. “That’s the only thing I can really say. I hope that it’s not true.”

An attorney for McNeal did not immediately return a message seeking comment.