SouthTech Academy teacher Damian Conti accused of having sex with a teen student is facing additional charged after investigators found he also made a suicide pact with the 16-year-old girl and helped her pick out a rope to hang herself.
As reported by The Palm Beach Post, Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies found the teenager hanging from a tree behind a church less than an hour later. Fortunately, deputies cut the rope and resuscitated her before rushing her to the St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, where she later recovered.
Conti Accompanied the Student to Hardware Store, Helped Her Pick Out Rope, Chain to Commit Suicide
Conti, 36, who was originally charged with several counts of unlawful sexual activity with a child, now faces an additional count of attempting to assist in self-murder. Prosecutors added the charge on April 16. Conti has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
Conti was seen accompanying the student to a Home Depot near Lake Worth Beach as she picked out 30 feet of rope and 15 feet of chain. She told an employee she was building a tree house. She told Conti it was for the both of them to commit suicide.
Hours later, the girl was in the emergency room. Intubated and comatose, she appeared in such grave condition that a deputy said her mother nearly fainted when she saw her.
Conti Groomed the Teen, Then Sexually Assaulted Her in Parking Lots, Classroom and In-Storage Closets on Campus
According to investigators, Conti began communicating with the student over school email, text and Instagram in August 2023. He then started meeting the after school hours near her locker, gave her driving lessons, visited her at work and even offered to be her academic mentor.
He gave her gifts and encouraged her to join the volleyball club he coached. Not long after, investigators say he had begun creating excuses to remove her from volleyball practice and take her into his classroom alone.
The student said he confided in her about his work and home life and encouraged her to vent her own frustrations. The girl said Conti told her he "liked her" in October 2023. She said he then began to assault her sexually, first in a shopping plaza parking lot and then in his classroom and in storage closets on SouthTech's campus in Boynton Beach.
Both Conti and the girl told deputies that their last sexual encounter occurred on Feb. 5, 2024 — the same day as his wedding anniversary, according to the divorce paperwork his wife filed three weeks later.
Investigators Found Thousands of Explicit Messages Between Conti and the Student
In addition to his admission of performing sex acts on the girl, investigators uncovered thousands of messages between the teacher and student — many of which the lawyers said contained "highly inappropriate and/or explicit sexual content."
During a hearing in October, prosecutors offered the former teacher a chance to plead guilty in exchange for a 25-year prison sentence — a fraction of the penalty he'll face if he maintains his innocence and is convicted at trial. Conti rejected the offer. He rejected a 10-year offer before that one, too. His refusal put his case on track for a jury trial scheduled to begin June 23.
