Law&Crime Sidebar - Student’s Graphic Testimony Seals 'Pedophile' Teacher’s Fate

Episode Date: July 21, 2025

Former AP English teacher Damian Conti stood trial for unlawful sexual activity with his 16-year-old student, who gave emotional, tearful testimony about their inappropriate relationship. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber breaks down how the trial unfolded and the disturbing details that sealed Conti’s fate.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:If you received Depo-Provera birth control shots and were later diagnosed with a brain or spinal tumor called meningioma, you may be eligible for a lawsuit. Visit https://forthepeople.com/lcdepo to start a claim now! HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple podcasts or Spotify. I did not attend my high school graduation. I did not walk. I did not cross the stage. I actually had my sister pick up my diploma on my behalf. A teacher's ultimate betrayal and a student's unimaginable pain. Former AP English teacher Damien Conte stood trial for unlawful sexual activity with a

16-year-old student who gave emotional, tearful testimony about their inappropriate relationship. And now, Conte faces decades behind bars. We're going to break down how this trial unfolded and the disturbing details that sealed his fate. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime, I'm Jesse Weber. Hey everybody, this is another Law and Crime legal alert. If you receive Deproprivera birth control shots and were later diagnosed with a brain or spinal tumor called meningioma, you may be eligible for a lawsuit. That's right, Morgan & Morgan is investigating claims that patients weren't properly warned

about this risk. It's free to check, just takes a few minutes, and you don't pay unless they win. So scan the QR code on screen, click the link below, or go to forthepeople.com slash LC depot to see if you qualify. The trial of Damian Conti, a 37-year-old former AP English teacher at South Tech Academy in Boynton Beach, Florida began quietly at the Palm Beach County Courthouse. Conti faced more than 100 years in prison, charged with four counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, his 16-year-old student.

But there was one additional charge that stood out tied to an incident that nearly turned fatal. And we're going to come back to what that was about in a little bit. Now I got to tell you, we cover these kinds of stories all the time. Usually when they first break or there's an arrest, I think this could be the first time on Sidebar that we actually covered the trial, which is always interesting because we anticipate what a trial will look like in these sexual abuse cases involving an educator and student. And now we saw it firsthand.

So let's get into this. June 24th, 2025, Conti's attorney, assistant public defender, Lily Boehmer, and prosecutors Alexa Ruggiero and Nicole Corring, they prepared for a case that would hinge on text messages, surveillance footage, the testimony of a teenager who had survived far more than just a sexual encounter. And now that the trial officially concluded, we're going to walk back through the facts of the case, how it ended up in court, and most importantly, everything the jurors heard during those critical days in the courtroom.

So according to a criminal complaint, on February 6, 2024, a deputy with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office responded to a Burger King in Lake Worth. This is following a report of possible unlawful sexual activity with a minor. Now prior to arriving at the scene, the responding officer spoke with another deputy. And what stood out most according to the deputy was that while her body worn camera was recording, the defendant, Damien Conti, essentially admitted to being in an inappropriate relationship with the teenager. And although much of the complaint remains redacted, it revealed that Conti admitted

he had been suspended from his job at South Tech Academy in Boynton Beach and that he had communicated with the student via text messages, Instagram, phone calls. So based on this information, Conti was initially arrested and charged with six counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor as well as four counts of committing an offense against a student by an authority figure. However, by the time the case proceeded to trial, the prosecution had apparently dropped two of the unlawful sexual activity charges and all four charges related to offenses against the student, but in their place, prosecutors filed four felony counts of unlawful sexual activity with a

minor under Florida statute 794.05, along with one additional charge, attempted assisted self-murder. This is under Florida statute 782.08, which stem from a separate incident in this case that we're going to talk about. But under Florida law, each count of unlawful sexual activity with a minor carries a maximum sentence of up to 15 years in prison.

And assisting in a self-murder, it's classified, our understanding, as manslaughter, and it carries the same maximum penalty. So we want to get into this trial and what happened. Let's start with opening statements. Prosecutor Alexa Ruggiero described Damien Conti, the defendant, as a predator who groomed his then 16 year old student, isolating her from friends and family while drawing her into this increasingly sexual relationship.

When Mr. Conti laid eyes on her, he saw something else in her. Prey. But then you heard from defense attorney Lily Bomer, and she countered that while Conti's relationship with the student was clearly inappropriate, it never became sexual and it never became a crime. There was no physical sexual activity that occurred between SLM and Mr. Conti. But here's the thing, Bomer reportedly acknowledged, look, the two may have pushed boundaries, drawing hearts in the sand at a beach, running errands together, buying each other coffee,

even admitting they shared kisses. But she insisted they never crossed the line into unlawful sexual conduct. Now, I gotta say, the most gut-w wrenching moment of this whole trial, in my opinion, came when the victim took the stand to confront her former abuser and tell her story firsthand. So now she's 18 years old and she delivered the trials, again, my opinion, most powerful and emotional testimony describing how Conti first reached out to her under this pretense of mentorship back in August of 2023. And what began as seemingly innocent school emails quickly spiraled into personal text messages and then moved on to Instagram, where the line between teacher and predator blurred.

We see this happen in a number of different cases that we cover here on Sidebar. Just as an aside, before we get into her testimony, forensic analysts unveiled damning digital evidence including hundreds of explicit messages that were exchanged between Conti and the teenager, some of which the prosecution even read aloud. I love you so badly. I love you Damien. Thank you for making my day special. I love you.

Even though all you wanted to do was have sex. Of course my angel, thank you for making my day special. I love you. Even though all you wanted to do was have sex. Of course, my angel. Thank you for making my day special. So with that context, the now 18-year-old victim testified that by December of 2023, their relationship escalated beyond messages. And what began as first kisses quickly turned into near daily sexual encounters. Was there a time where it developed something sexual?

Yes, Mr. Damien and I, we engaged in vaginal sex. That is a photograph of Mr. Conti and I exchanging a kiss. And these encounters, they apparently happened everywhere, including on school grounds, in a classroom, storage closet, a car. He told me he didn't want to go out. He told me he wanted to stay and communicate with me in the vehicle. From there, it got to such a point.

But here's the thing, like we cover in so many different cases, the secrecy didn't last. Rumors started spreading. That he was getting too close to me. There were students that were calling him a predator. And then a friend of the victim took the stand and detailed how he discovered these explicit messages. After seeing the texts, the classmate immediately reported both of them. There were some very sexual situations mentioned, pictures and photographs,

all sorts of heinous things. And when the victim recalled this moment in court, she broke down, describing the devastating fallout after the truth came out. I did not attend my high school graduation. I did not walk. I did not cross the stage. I actually had my sister pick up my diploma on my lap.

Now here's where everything takes a turn. The emotional toll of this was apparently unbearable. So much so that in her despair, she did the unthinkable. She arranged to meet with Conti at a home depot where she purchased a rope and chain. Now we're not going to go into further detail in order to comply with YouTube's platform guidelines, but I think you can gather what we're talking about.

And again, look at that additional charge that Conti was facing. But the pain in that courtroom was palpable. And when her testimony ended, she actually collapsed stepping off the stand. Now we've heard the victim's story, but now we've got to talk about the digital evidence because that reveals a whole other damning layer to this case. When police confronted Conti, he in tears when these recordings played. But the defense, they didn't take it lying down. No, the defense fought back hard, challenging both the confession and the police investigation.

At no point in time did you swap SLM's car for DNA? There would be no reason. At no point in time, did you swap SLM's car for DNA? No. At no point in time, did you instruct crime scene investigators to swap SLM's car for DNA? I did not. Yet the prosecution stood firm, leaving no doubt about their target or the evidence that

they'd uncovered. They both had sex in the car. They both admitted to having sex in the car. Was there any question of who the suspect was in this case? No. Was there any question of whether sex had occurred? No. Then you go to closing arguments, and prosecutors painted Conti as this calculating predator

who systematically exploited a vulnerable teenager's isolation and trust. Everything that he has done that he did that day, it all went to him. Leading up to that was the sexual, the sexual things that he made her do with him. Was all for himself. This is just a timeline of all the things that he did that morning and all the attempts that she made. All the attempts that she made to get help from him, begging him for help. She completely relied on him. She told us that she had a few friends, but he really shed some light on the situation that she was in.

And that is that she did not have good friends. He was her only friend. Dr. Farris, not in evidence. He was the only one that she talked to on a daily basis. She was even concerned within those text messages that we read about growing to attach to him, because this is the only person that she felt that she had in her life. This is a person that she looked to for guidance, for love, for care.

Her world was crumbling when this news broke. And he knew that. He knew that going into it. He knew that when it came out. And again, he used that information against her, the trust that she has, and he manipulated her to doing things. And the evidence they argued didn't stop there. Digital records, deleted messages, Conti's own words laid bare a pattern

that prosecutors say proves guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Every single thing that he says in these interviews that we've introduced into evidence that you get to watch is just proven by the, by the evidence that we put forward, by digital testimony, by photos, by emails. He admits to all the messages he deleted. He admits to making the victim delete messages. And even though she did delete the messages, we've recovered Dr. Cho and to prove that what he said actually happened with the sexual acts that what she

said actually happened was not fairytale, was not role play. Now just as we're really moving on from the sex acts up, if you are, if you listen closely to that interview, he admits to every single sex act, the number of times it happened, where it happened. With the laws, their guide, jurors were told this case wasn't about opinion, but about proof. We have proven these sex charges beyond reasonable doubt. And the reason why we're here is because he's entitled to a trial by jury.

There's no grand scheme for you to uncover back there. There's no big question that you need to answer back there about what happened here. We have given you everything that you could possibly need to answer back there about what happened here. We have Given you everything that you could possibly need to know what the answer those questions are And that's what we're asking you to do When we selected a jury by co-counsel this morning, I asked each of you about whether you would agree to follow the law in this case. Each of you indicated that you would agree to follow the law in this case. And each of you indicated that you would. And following the law doesn't necessarily mean, and often does mean you don't have to agree

with what the law is. And that's why we ask those questions in various elections. It doesn't matter what your views are on consent being the age of 18. The law is the law. The defendant is the one who violated the law. And we have proven that he has violated the law in the six ways that we have charged him." Now the defense countered.

They countered with a starkly different narrative, arguing that while Conti's actions were deeply inappropriate, they didn't constitute criminal conduct. Mr. Conti's relationship with SLM was terribly inappropriate. The teacher and the student should never be sending explicit messages back and forth to one another. They should have never been in a romantic relationship. South Tech Academy should have fired him. But none of that means that a crime was committed. Or that Mr. Conti was the one that committed it.

The state just got here and told you that we're here for trial because Mr. Conte is entitled to trial. We're not here because we're just going through the motions of a trial. We're here because Mr. Conte is not guilty on all five counts, as charged in the information. We've come to the end of this trial,

and soon you'll be brought back into that jury room to make a decision about the facts in this case. The state made you a promise in opening statements. They promised to prove their case beyond and to the exclusion of each and every reasonable doubt and they failed to do that. And the defense acknowledged that the relationship was wrong, that it was inappropriate, but insisted the state failed to prove criminal intent, pointing to missing evidence and mutual feelings. This trial may have stirred up a lot of emotions as you sat and you listened to the evidence.

But as you were just instructed, your verdict cannot be influenced by feelings of prejudice, bias, or sympathy. Your verdict has to be based on the evidence and the law that was presented during this trial. So let's talk about that. As you were also just instructed, reasonable doubt comes from the evidence, the lack of evidence, and a conflict in the evidence. Let's talk about the undisputed evidence.

Mr. Conte and SLM had feelings for one another. Mr. Conte admitted that to the police. Ms. Antti admitted that to the police. Ms. SLM admitted that on the stand. How do I know, how do we know that that is a correct description? Because there were romantic feelings both ways. They spoke every day. We have hours of messages that were read into the record.

We have hours of messages, and we're also missing Instagram records and we know that there's more Instagram records because as SLM testified on cross-examination, the main form of communication was those Instagrams. And from beach dates to whispered I love yous, the defense seemed to frame this as a consensual, if forbidden, romance. So as much as the state attorney presented their evidence from exodus two and three, there's even more than that. romance. They hung out at one another's work. And SLM was excited for Mr. Conti to bring his children to work so that she could meet them. And that's going to be Defense Exhibit 1.

They had discussions about who he was following on Instagram, the fact that SLM was unhappy about who he was following and asked him to stop following those influencers. That is relationship behavior. It's cut off, but that is going to be the state's exhibit two page nine. They hugged and they kissed one another. They said, I love you to one another. And they sent explicit messages to one another. And ultimately the defense urged jurors to separate emotion from the law, arguing that no physical line was crossed. The state in opening statements told you that Mr. Conte manipulated SLM.

But they can't just say it, they had to prove it. And the evidence that they showed were simply that they had feelings for one another. They planned a life together. Mr. Conte was planning to divorce his wife to have SLM go to college, and she would come back and visit his children over college breaks. He would move and downsize into a smaller apartment, and she would eventually move in with him. Ms. Ruggero, on direct, apologized over and over again

for calling this a relationship to SLM. SLM never said that it wasn't a relationship. She knew it was a relationship. On cross-examination, she specifically stated it was a relationship without a label. Even if it wasn't supposed to be happening, that's what it was, a relationship without a label. This was a romantic relationship

that Mr. Conti was not willing to jeopardize. He was not willing to cross that line and have physical and sexual relations with SLM. Why do I say that? I say that because no unlawful sexual activity occurred in this case. But the prosecution fired back, arguing this wasn't just poor judgment, but this was about predatory conduct. And it was spelled out in their own words. Listen to this moment from the rebuttal argument.

It's like that he knew it was over. Then it was no longer going to be able to go to school while sexting a student, showing videos on his smart board, talking about their gains. And in that situation, the obligation is on the adult. In that situation, the obligation is for a teacher to never cross that line as many times as he did, in as many ways as he did. Because ladies and gentlemen, you do not leave your wife and children for a quote, emotional relationship. Of course they were having sex. And prosecutors, they didn't stop there.

They weaponized the defendant's own graphic texts to prove this was all about sex, not romance. He told the detectives, the SLM told the detectives, and you all now know that too. This is not a whodunit. This isn't a case where DNA is going to tell you anything because you heard it all already. And to fault SLM for not going into graphic detail in front of eight strangers, cameras, a courtroom full of people, of the sexual quote, escapades the two of them went through, is ridiculous. Objection was half on theory of the facts. But where did they reminisce about all the exceptional encounters? The clincher? These what?

800 pages of messages where a teacher didn't just cross a line but documented every violation. Now I have to give you a fair warning here. This next part is extremely disturbing and it is very graphic. day about how he drank her creamy secretion. And later on page 595, Mr. Conti read open how clean she was that day. Miss Boehmer wants you to question SLM's testimony because she couldn't sit there and talk about the quote curve and Mr. Conti's. But don't you worry because they already talked about it.

She knows precisely what his penis looks like. And you know what she said? She likes it. Because she's seen it. She felt it. The two discussed about how she loved what he threw her around. And then the defendant told her on page 597, I can still feel your mouth on me. 36 year old AP English teacher to his 16 year old junior. Was that as crazy intense as it was for you

as it was for me? So no. SLM could not give you a play by play of the three times they had vaginal sex because that's what she said. She did not testify that it was vaginal sex every day. She said they had vaginal sex three times. What happened?

After just two hours of deliberations, the jury reached their verdict, delivering a swift and decisive conclusion to this explosive case. At this time in the court, if you could please publish the verdict. In the circuit court of the 15th judicial circuit, criminal division, NF4 Palm Beach County, Florida, case number 2004 CF001096AMB, Division B, State of Florida versus Damien Joseph Conte, Defendants, verdict. We the jury find as follows. As to count one, penis to female genitals, we find the defendant guilty of unlawful sexual activity with a minor. That's charging information. If you found the defendant guilty of this offense,

you must then answer the following questions. the state proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Damon Conti's SLM's female generals? Yes. Has the state proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Damon Conti was an authority figure at a school and SLM was a student at the same school? Yes. As to count two, mouth to female generals, we find the defendant guilty of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, as charted in the information. If you found the defendant guilty of this offense, you must then answer the following questions.

Has the state proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Damien Conti's mouth penetrated SLM's female generals? Yes. Has the state proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Damien Conte was an authority figure at his school and SLM was a student at the same school? Yes. As to count three, penis to mouth, we find the defendant guilty of unlawful sexual activity with a minor as charged in the information. If you found the defendant guilty of this offense, you must then answer the following questions. Has the state proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Damien Conte's penis penetrated SLM's mouth?

Yes. Has the state proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Damien Conte was an authority figure at his school and SLM was a student at the same school? Yes. As to count four, object, finger, to female genitals. We find the defendant guilty of unlawful sexual activity with a minor as charged with information. If you find the defendant guilty of this offense,

you must then answer the following questions. Has the state proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Damon Conte's finger penetrated SOM's female genitals? Yes. Has the state proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Damon Conte was an authority figure at his school Guilty on all four counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, but not guilty of assisted attempted self-murder. So Conti stood stone-faced. His only reaction, seemingly this tightening of his jaw, and notably absent by the way, was his now 18-year-old victim who didn't appear in court for the verdict.

Circuit Court Judge Howard Coates scheduled Conti's fate for August 15th, where he faces, reportedly, 27 to 120 years behind bars. A potential life sentence for this disgraced teacher. And think about this, by the way. The Palm Beach Post reports, Conti turned down a plea deal of 10 to 25 years. That's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.

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