Teacher at prestigious Manhattan school is charged with trying to seduce a 16-year-old student 'after taking her to the Met museum and plying her with alcohol' 

• e-mail

A teacher at a prestigious school in Manhattan has been arrested and charged for allegedly buying a student alcohol and trying to kiss her.

Dean Bethea, 54, who teaches English and philosophy at Columbia Secondary School for Math, Science, & Engineering, allegedly took the girl to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art last Friday and bought her two alcoholic drinks in a cafe there.

He then walked her to the subway station, where he told her she was beautiful and tried to kiss her, she claimed. 

Dean Bethea, 54, who has been a teacher for 25 years, has been charged with acting in a manner injurious to a child and unlawfully dealing with a child

Bethea (pictured left and right) has been 'reassigned' according to reports, after he allegedly took a 16-year-old girl to the Met museum

Bethea was charged on Tuesday with acting in a manner injurious to a child and unlawfully dealing with a child, the New York Post reported. 

The teen reportedly told her mother what had happened when she got home.

Bethea, who has been teaching at the Harlem school for three years, had previously taught his alleged victim, according to the New York Daily News. The school educates children who are in grades six to 12.

The Department of Education called the allegations troubling and said Bethea had been reassigned, according to the Post.

According to the school's website, Bethea has a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee and was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Goettingen in Germany.

It also says he 'likes 'music, art, birding and flower gardening'. 

Bethea allegedly bought the girl two alcoholic drinks at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (above)