Shell-shocked parents at an elite Brooklyn private school were left reeling Friday by sickening charges that its former baseball coach preyed on young boys — as the accused child molester was released on bail.
The arrest of Nicolas Morton, 31, on a 20-count sex crime indictment Thursday laid bare accusations that had been the subject of months of rumors and speculation at the $60,000-a-year, K-12 Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn Heights.
“It’s terrible,” the mother of a Packer fifth grade girl told The Post Friday morning. “We’re all shocked.”
It also raised questions among some families about whether there had been enough oversight of Morton, who posted bail, set at $75,000 cash or $150,000 bond, after he pleaded not guilty to a slew of sex crime charges, court records show.
“To be honest, I don’t know what the school has done,” the mom said.
Another Packer parent told The Post they feared that Morton’s storied past as a baseball phenom at the school gave the administration a false sense of security.
Morton, an alumnus, may not even have been “properly overseen” because of his sterling reputation as an athlete, and was “alone with the kids,” the parent said.
“The vetting of him and his organization wasn’t as rigorous as it might have been if he were an outsider,” the parent charged.
Prosecutors said Morton allegedly groomed and sexually abused seven boys between the ages of 12 and 14 who played on his private traveling baseball team, which consisted of a mix of Packer and non-Packer students.
He allegedly forced the boys to expose themselves, peppered them with inappropriate talk about masturbation and groped three of those players’ genitals, according to prosecutors.
The second parent said they believed there were a handful more students who were allegedly targeted by Morton, but weren’t included in the indictment because of the statute of limitations.
They also believed there were students who had not yet come to terms with the experience sufficiently to begin legal action.
“It’s very raw for them,” said the parent.
Morton worked in school’s admissions office while coaching the school’s varsity baseball team, until August, when administrators emailed parents that he’d been fired, The Post previously reported.
One dad dropping off his son at Packer Friday was surprised at the accusations against Morton.
“It’s terrible,” he said. “I thought he was a good guy.”
Another Packer mother likewise said Morton’s alleged perverted abuse was shocking, but she felt the school acted swiftly.
“In my opinion, they did a very good job of being very transparent to the parents,” she said.
No parents who spoke with The Post wanted to be named — and many were outright hostile when approached by a reporter during the school’s morning drop off.
“You’re not doing a service to anyone by being here,” one raged.
A Packer representative didn’t return The Post’s request for comment.
A man who answered the intercom at Morton’s apartment in Park Slope — perched above a Ninth Street sports bar — went silent when reached by a Post reporter for comment. He couldn’t be reached by phone.
— Additional reporting by Kyle Schnitzer and Dorian Geiger