A former Florida teacher faces up to 105 years in prison for his alleged grooming and sexual abuse of a teen girl, which resulted in her suicide attempt.
Damian Conti is a 36-year-old former Advanced Placement English teacher at the SouthTech Academy, a charter school for students in grades 9 through 12 in Boynton Beach.
‘She’s alive by miracle.’
According to investigators, Conti began messaging a 16-year-old female student through text, Instagram, and school email in August 2023.
Conti allegedly offered to be the girl’s academic mentor.
The teacher reportedly would meet the student on a daily basis near her locker after school ended.
Attorneys for the alleged victim’s family said Conti met the teen at Starbucks and visited the teenager at her job — and even brought his 4-year-old son with him. He also allegedly gave the teen gifts.
Conti purportedly persuaded the girl to join the volleyball team, which he coached.
He allegedly made excuses to remove her from volleyball practice and take her into his classroom alone, according to investigators.
The Palm Beach Post reported, “The student said he confided in her about his work and home life and encouraged her to vent her own frustrations. As their trust deepened, he began sharing intimate secrets about his marriage and sex life.”
The girl allegedly told investigators that Conti told her he “liked her” in October 2023.
Shortly after, Conti began to sexually abuse the minor, according to the teen. The alleged sexual assaults occurred in a shopping plaza parking lot, his classroom, and in storage closets at SouthTech Academy.
The former teacher allegedly gave the girl driving lessons.
In January 2024, an administrator at the SouthTech Academy reportedly emailed Conti a warning about driving the underage student around in his car after a video of the girl entering Conti’s car began to circulate on TikTok.
“I want to remind you that you should not be transporting students in your car,” assistant principal Erin Kurtz wrote to Conti. “If you are transporting them for a field trip, the appropriate paperwork should be on file, and there should always be a minimum of three people.”
Citing court records, the Post reported that Conti told the alleged victim that Kurtz had questioned him about inappropriate conduct with a different teenage girl a year prior. Conti allegedly bragged about how quickly he had convinced the assistant principal that the allegations were unfounded. However, he reportedly continued to sexually assault the first alleged victim.
Conti and the second alleged victim reportedly told investigators that their last sexual encounter happened on Feb. 5, 2024 — the same day as his wedding anniversary, according to divorce documents Conti’s wife filed three weeks later.
‘Scared of death.’
The next day, a classmate — who had access to her social media accounts — wanted to “mess with her” by logging into her Instagram and messaging her from there. The classmate allegedly told detectives that he also logged into her Instagram to see if she was “talking smack” about him.
“Lo and behold, she was talking smack about me,” he told police.
The male classmate also said he noticed “curious” messages in the girl’s private messages between her and an account seemingly belonging to Conti. The classmate took screenshots of the conversations between the teacher and student and then reportedly shared them with school administrators.
Eileen Turenne — the now-former principal of SouthTech Academy — suspended Conti after seeing the messages. The principal summoned the teen girl, who allegedly told deputies that Conti instructed her to delete the messages between the pair, which she did.
The student refused to answer any of the principal’s questions and demanded an attorney, according to court records.
The teen claimed that Turenne asked her to vacate the campus, despite not having approval from the girl’s parents, which school policy requires.
A school receptionist allegedly asked Turenne to confirm that the student should be released from the campus, despite not having parental approval.
“Yes,” Turenne reportedly replied. “Get her out of here.”
According to court documents, when the receptionist asked a second time about releasing the student, Turenne responded, “I will deal with it later. Just tell (Jane Doe) to sign on behalf of her parent.”
The girl’s attorney, Victoria Mesa-Estrada, said, “The school waited for the water to spill before they took any action to protect her. And when they pushed her out, they basically turned her into the hands of the predator.”
Turenne reportedly retired from SouthTech Academy three days later.
‘This case is much more than just the sexual abuse of a minor by a teacher.’
The teen left SouthTech Academy on Feb. 6 and reportedly met Conti at a Home Depot near Lake Worth Beach, according to surveillance cameras at the hardware store.
According to court documents, the teen selected 30 feet of rope and 15 feet of chain. The teen allegedly told an employee that she was building a tree house.
However, the rope reportedly was to be used for the teen and Conti to commit suicide.
A civil lawsuit the girl’s parents filed against SouthTech Academy and Conti claimed he initially agreed to the suicide pact but later changed his mind.
The teen told investigators Conti touched the rope and then said he was “scared of death.” He then allegedly told the teen not to commit suicide.
The pair then walked out of the Home Depot store together and “went their separate ways,” according to court records.
Shortly after, Conti claimed to have called his therapist for advice on what to do. The therapist allegedly told him to immediately call 911, which he did. Conti allegedly told police of the girl’s suicide plans but reportedly did not inform police that he was with her at the hardware store when she purchased the rope.
Upon receiving news of the suicidal teen, police launched an immediate search for the girl. With the assistance of the girl’s parents, who tracked her location through their phone, deputies with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office reportedly found the teen hanging from a tree behind a church less than an hour after the 911 call.
Officers cut the rope and resuscitated the girl before rushing her to the pediatric intensive care unit of St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach. The teen seemed to be in such grave condition that her mother nearly fainted when she saw her daughter, a deputy said.
The alleged victim reportedly has made a slow recovery from her injuries.
The same day — Feb. 6 — Conti was arrested. Police said Conti admitted to having a sexual relationship with the girl.
Conti allegedly told the arresting deputy there were “feelings that shouldn’t have been there,” and “I should have stopped it.”
Conti was fired from SouthTech Academy the following day.
‘He’s facing a whole lot of hurt.’
Investigators discovered thousands of messages between the teacher and student, which lawyers claim contain “highly inappropriate and/or explicit sexual content.”
WPEC-TV reported that Conti initially was charged with six counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor.
During a hearing last October, prosecutors allegedly offered Conti a plea deal that would give him a 25-year prison sentence. Conti rejected it.
Earlier this month, prosecutors hit Conti with an additional charge of attempting to assist in self-murder.
If convicted, Conti faces up to 105 years in prison.
Assistant State Attorney Alexa Ruggiero reportedly told Assistant Public Defender Lily Boehmer in an email, “This case is much more than just the sexual abuse of a minor by a teacher. Some of the most upsetting evidence includes the defendant taking this young girl to the store to buy materials to end her life.”
Ruggiero noted that there is additional evidence “to corroborate his involvement with her attempted suicide.”
Mesa-Estrada stated, “We’re not only talking about a sexual predator, but someone who aided and abetted her suicide attempt. She’s alive by miracle.”
Former Palm Beach County state attorney Dave Aronberg told WPBF-TV, “The one fact in his favor is that he said that he called 911, and that is how they found her, was able to save her life. That’s the kind of thing that could help him at trial, but still, he’s facing a whole lot of hurt.”
Conti’s jury trial is scheduled to begin June 23.
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Teacher arrested, Bad teacher, Teacher sex scandal, Teacher student sex scandal, Suicide, Suicide pact, Florida crime, Crime
