Local teacher had affair with student and his father
Published Saturday, March 5, 2005 1:00 am
by By Sean Salai
Boca Raton resident Carol Flannigan, a music teacher at a Boynton Beach public school, not only slept with an 11-year-old former student, but also had a sexual relationship with the boy's father at the same time, according to a deposition filed this week in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.
The boy's father says in the deposition that he had the same sort of sexual relationship with Flannigan, 50, that former President Bill Clinton had with Monica Lewinsky. But the document refers only to oral sex and points out a red dress that may or may not contain a DNA sample.
The father said he met Flannigan for the trysts at his home, the movies and once on a college campus. "I wouldn't call it romantic," he says in the deposition that makes reference to occasional meetings for sex.
Flannigan, a music teacher in Rolling Green Elementary in Boynton Beach, is awaiting trial on one count of capital sex assault on a child under 12 and one count of lewd or lascivious assault stemming from her alleged relationship with the man's son. The first count carries a mandatory life sentence.
Mike Edmondson, spokesman for the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office, said Friday he "could not and would not" confirm whether the father would be charged with any crimes based on the deposition.
"Because this case is going to trial, ethical rules prevent us from commenting at this time" Edmondson said.
Flannigan's attorneys, Kenneth Ronan and Charlotte Danciu, questioned the boy's father in the deposition. Ronan, contacted Friday for comment, said, "This is just the tip of the iceberg."
The deposition contains a variety of other sexually explicit details of the man's previously undisclosed relationship with Flannigan, including a love letter he wrote to her. "I can't wait to have you in my arm[s] and to make love to you," said the father of three in the letter. "I know I can make you feel good all over. I hope we can meet this Saturday."
In his deposition, the boy's father also admits to serving a month in jail in 1992 for selling heroin, to keeping unsecured pornographic movies in his home and to accepting at least $800 in checks from Flannigan during the love tryst.
He says in the document that he knew only that Flannigan was dating at least two other men, one of whom she told him about at that time.
Consistent with previous news reports, the father says in his deposition that he believed Flannigan started having sex with his son during sleepovers at their Boca Raton home in 2002.
Flannigan's husband, Doug DePue, upset at the frequent sleepovers, sent the boy two e-mails that ended the sleepovers in late 2002.
Last summer, DePue settled a civil lawsuit with the boy's family for $1.5 million. He divorced Flannigan in February 2003.
The boy's father says DePue was often in the same room when Flannigan and the boy had sex, and says in the deposition that his son told him DePue knew what they were doing on at least one occasion.
He also says Florida's Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the Boca Raton Police Department questioned his son in late 2002 after DePue told a marriage counselor that Flannigan had "feelings" from kissing a 12-year old boy.
But that investigation was reportedly dropped after the boy told police he had merely "tap kissed" Flannigan and did not feel wrong about it. "I wouldn't call it a lie," the father says in the deposition. "He probably just didn't feel comfortable telling the truth."
Police first picked up on Flannigan's behavior on Jan. 7, 2004 after the boy's concerned mother found a sexually explicit text message on his cell phone. Police arrested her just 24 hours after reviewing a tapped phone call Flannigan made to the boy, allegedly offering him $1,000 to continue lying about their activities.
One day later, though, Flannigan posted a $30,000 bond and returned to her Boca Raton residence under house arrest.
Flannigan, who, according to police, gave the boy gifts and took him on a trip to Orlando, allegedly began seducing him in 2001 when he was 11 and had just finished elementary school.
None of the incidents took place on school property, police said. The family of the boy claims the sex took place in parks, hotels and wooded areas.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office confirmed Friday that Flannigan, the mother of one teenage son, is again in custody this week. She was arrested Feb. 25 for violating her house arrest (her ankle bracelet reportedly went off while she was driving to avoid heavy traffic) and is being held without bail.
Lawyers for both sides are due again in court on March 16, when Judge Lucy Chernow Brown will hear a motion by the defense for witness depositions.
Both Flannigan and the boy's family will appear in court on May 16, when Chernow will set the trial date. The teacher's trial is likely to begin within two weeks of that hearing, according to the State Attorney's Office.
Flannigan is expected to plead not guilty.
School officials said she has been on paid leave from the Palm Beach County School District since the criminal investigation started.
Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@bocanews.com or 561-893-6427.
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