A veteran staffer with the city’s Administration for Children’s Services was arrested for allegedly exposing himself to a parent twice during “predatory” home visits, officials announced Thursday.
Harold Latour, 59, a child protective specialist with ACS, was charged with harassment and official misconduct following an internal investigation into the creepy 2021 home visitations, the city Department of Investigation said.
“This city child protective specialist used his access to vulnerable families as an opportunity to engage in illegal and sexually inappropriate conduct on more than one occasion,” DOI Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber said in a statement.
“His predatory conduct compromised the difficult and complex work of [Administration for Children’s Services] and his CPS colleagues, whose priority is protecting children and families,” Strauber said.
Latour, who joined the agency in 2011, is accused of wearing basketball shorts without underwear during welfare visits to a Queens home on Oct. 6, 2021, and Nov. 17, 2021, sitting down in front of the child’s mother and exposing himself, officials said.
Agency staffers are required to make periodic home visits to check on the welfare of children who are under ACS supervision due to past reports of neglect or abuse.
In Latour’s case, the mother reported the two incidents to ACS the day after the second home visit, telling authorities that she felt threatened during the unsettling encounters.
Latour was placed on modified duty while the agency investigated the complaints.
The probe, which came to involve the Queens District Attorney’s Office, concluded this week with Latour’s arrest and the misdemeanor charges against him.
Latour, whose salary was $64,000 last year, was suspended without pay.
He was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Wednesday and released without bail.
Latour did not return a call from The Post and his lawyer declined to comment on Thursday.