High school teacher John Teti of Sunrise, Florida was arrested on January 31 for allegedly soliciting a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student.
Teti, 41, taught at Northeast High School in Oakland Park. He is charged with soliciting or engaging in a romantic relationship while in a position of authority. He was ordered held on $50,000 bond. The press did not name an attorney for him.
According to the arrest affidavit, Teti’s alleged interest in the student started in October last year. He reportedly built her trust by doing various things, such as offering to pick her up from her home when she was late to school, offering to tutor her at home, and allowing her to skip other classes so she could hang out in his classroom.
Teti was reprimanded by the school in October for having inappropriate communication with his students using an app teachers are supposed to use to communicate with students and parents. Teti reportedly bypassed school monitoring by exchanging phone numbers with his students and talking to them directly for the rest of the semester.
He started sending the girl sexual text messages, often late at night. In one the texts, he reportedly asks the teen if she would be his “teenage bride” if his wife died. His advances purportedly “intensified” in mid-November, despite being told by the girl to stop on at least two different occasions.
In a message send on November 28, Teti allegedly drew a heart with the student’s name in it and asked her what she thought about it. In his final message on December 3, Teti purportedly confessed his love for the teen.
Two days later, his conduct escalated to physical contact after he called her into his classroom while she was in another class. The student went with a friend who knew about Teti’s messages. Teti allegedly attempted to hug the girl in front of her friend and told her he had missed her, the affidavit said.
On December 9, the student received a package of snacks at her house from Teti with a note wishing her happy holidays. Concerned that Teti knew where she lived, the teen decided to tell her siblings who eventually told her parents on December 30.
After his arrest, Teti reportedly admitted to having a “special bond” with the girl that he didn’t have with the other students. He also admitted to sending the texts during the early hours of the morning “when he was lonely,” according to the affidavit.
A spokesperson for Broward Public Schools told the press that Teti had only been a teacher at Northeast High School for a year. He had reportedly been reassigned away from the school since the beginning of year. He was fired Thursday.
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