Brooklyn Music Teacher Accused of Sexually Abusing Choir Girl

The Gothamist
December 21, 2012

http://gothamist.com/2012/12/20/brooklyn_music_teacher_accused_of_s.php

Vaughn McKinney

A Brooklyn music teacher is accused of carrying on a two year sexual relationship with a teenage girl he met through his wife's work as a youth choir leader at the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church. According to the Special Commissioner of Investigation, 57-year-old Vaughn McKinney started having sex with the unidentified victim when she was 16, luring her into bed with the promise of money and an iPhone. "If I get you the cell phone, you know what you have to do for it," he allegedly told the girl.

In an ironic twist, the allegations of sexual abuse came to light only after a pastor at the church blew the whistle. Pastor Brian Pettrey went to the police, of course; according to the SCI report, the victim confided in the pastor about her relationship with McKinney, and the pastor then told her mother. He also called McKinney to warn him to stay away from the victim, and confiscated the cell phone. When the girl's mother confronted her daughter about the relationship, she admitted to having sex with McKinney starting when she was 16 years old—often on the couch in McKinney's basement while his wife was at church.

Also troubling is that the girl's mother says she already knew about the relationship but didn't do anything about it until others, like the pastor, caught on. According to the SCI report (below), "approximately two or three weeks earlier," the mother had been contacted by McKinney's wife Patricia McKinney, who requested an urgent meeting. They met at a restaurant, where Patricia McKinney showed the mother a phone invoice she'd found in her husband's belongings with the daughter's name on it, and demanded to know why her husband had the bill. It gets worse:

Several days after the first meeting, the mother contacted Patricia McKinney and arranged a second meeting; on that occasion, the mother informed Patricia McKinney about the sexual relationship her husband was having with Student A. Patricia McKinney left the restaurant, went to her car, and started to cry.

According to the mother, although she had known about the relationship between McKinney and Student A since November 2011, she had not told anyone because it had been emotionally upsetting to her and to Student A.

According to Student A, she began a sexual relationship with McKinney about a year earlier and had sex with McKinney 12 to 15 times during the year. Student A added that McKinney took her to a motel on several occasions, but claimed that she could not remember the name of the motel. Student A reported that she also had sex with McKinney at his home on four or five occasions during the year.

Student A explained that she would arrive at McKinney’s home on Sunday at approximately 11:30 a.m., after McKinney’s wife had gone to church, and would leave at 1:00 p.m. or 2:00 p.m.

The girl's father took her to the police after finally learning about all this, but his daughter refused to cooperate with police. It wasn't until her mother contacted the SCI that an investigation was launched. Prosecutors say McKinney admitted to the sexual relationship, but told investigators it didn't start until shortly after the teen's 17th birthday. He also claimed the relationship lasted only a month or so, and ended after he received a telephone call from Pastor Pettrey threatening to tell his wife.

McKinney, a teacher at IS 59 in Queens, was arrested this morning and charged with rape and sexual misconduct.