NY- Mistaken identity has mom fearing for son

Threats plague woman with same last name as alleged sex predator

3-15-2008 New York:

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Her last name is Gordon, her son is roughly the same age as alleged sexual predator Christopher Gordon and she lives on the same block of Genesee Avenue that the Willowbrook preschool teacher told police is his address when he was arrested last week for sexually abusing one of his 5-year-old students.

Marie E. Gordon says she never knew or met Christopher Gordon, nor did anyone in her family.

But in the last week, Mrs. Gordon has gotten numerous harassing phone calls from anonymous people who believe she is his mother. Some of the callers even threatened to kill her son, 24-year-old Iraq veteran Gregory Gordon.

"My daughter survived the World Trade Center, my son survived Iraq. I don't need them taken away from me by some lunatic," a distraught Mrs. Gordon said yesterday. "They say these horrible, horrible things, cursing at me and threatening to kill my son. It's just a very, very frightening experience and now I can't even leave my home."

Christopher Gordon was charged March 7 with five counts of first-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. He is accused of making the 5-year-old sit on his lap and bounce, or stand with her back against the wall while he rubbed his genitals on her body inside the bathroom of the Oakdale Academy on Victory Boulevard, according to court documents.

Mrs. Gordon -- whose son Gregory has served two tours in Iraq since the war began and whose daughter Marissa was working at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 -- said the callers all have been women and she suspects they're mothers of Oakdale students.

She notified the office of District Attorney Daniel Donovan and the police and was advised to keep her doors and windows locked, keep the lights on at all times and not to answer the door without knowing who's there. Police also told her to be aware of her surroundings and be alert, she said.

"It's terrifying," said Mrs. Gordon, adding that she has lived on the 500 block of Genesee Avenue since 1979.

Christopher Gordon's arrest report indicates that he lives just down the block.

"These women are insane. They're jumping to conclusions about a family they don't even know," Mrs. Gordon said."

A spokesman for Donovan said authorities are "reviewing the situation."

Oakdale administrator Debbie Wallach was disturbed to hear about the threatening phone calls but expressed skepticism they were placed by employees or parents of pupils.

"I have no control over who it is or isn't," Ms. Wallach said, stressing that no one with a connection to the school has made remarks to her that would indicate they're out to get Christopher Gordon's family. "To the best of my knowledge, it certainly is not anyone who is involved with Oakdale Academy as a staff member, or a parent of someone who attends the school."

Regardless, she penned a memo that was to go home with students yesterday, pointing out that there is no connection between Christopher Gordon and Marie Gordon's family.

"My heart goes out to the woman because it's certainly something she shouldn't have to go through," she said. Christopher Gordon "is responsible for what he did and nobody else." ..more.. by Glenn Nyback is a news reporter for the Advance. He may be reached at nyback@siadvance.com.