Former Hilton Head teacher sentenced to 6 years for inappropriate behavior with student
A former substitute teacher at Hilton Head Island High School was sentenced Thursday to up to six years in prison for sending a student a partially nude photograph of herself and asking him to buy her marijuana.
Margaret LaMantia, 24, pleaded guilty in Beaufort County court to disseminating harmful material to a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor while she was a long-term Spanish substitute at Hilton Head High last year. Judge Brooks Goldsmith sentenced LaMantia under the Youthful Offender Act, which allows for her release at any point during the sentence.
In a prepared statement, 14th Circuit Assistant Solicitor Patrick Hall said, "Not only is she going to prison, but these convictions should ensure that she never works around children again."
LaMantia's actions were reported to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office on Dec. 6, 2013, after the 16-year-old victim was fired from his job because he smelled of marijuana. The boy told his father he bought the drugs at the request of one of his teachers, LaMantia, according to a Sheriff's Office report.
LaMantia and the teenager began talking around Nov. 25 and used social media to continue communicating over the Thanksgiving break, the report said. She sent him at least one risquè photo on the Snapchat phone application because the student "was persistent and kept asking for it," according to the Sheriff's Office report.
While Snapchat deletes photos after a few seconds, the student managed to save several images from LaMantia using another application, deputies said.
They continued to talk after Thanksgiving, sometimes about marijuana and sex, and LaMantia told deputies she might have implied their relationship could become sexual.
On Dec. 6, LaMantia asked the teen to buy her marijuana and later drove him to Folly Field Beach to talk, deputies said. They briefly kissed and the student touched LaMantia over her clothes, but she refused to engage in other sexual activity, according to the Sheriff's Office.
When questioned by deputies, LaMantia confessed to sending the photo and asking for marijuana. On Dec. 11, she was arrested, and Beaufort County School District officials said she was no longer a district employee.
LaMantia posted a $35,000 bond a week later, before moving to Bryan, Ohio, according to the jail log.
On Dec. 20, another school district employee, Battery Creek High School psychologist Megan Snipes, was charged with sexual battery of a student. Snipes, 29, is free on a $50,000 personal recognizance bond. Her case is pending.
Follow reporter Rebecca Lurye at twitter.com/IPBG_Rebecca.
Related content:
- Hilton Head High substitute accused of inappropriate acts with student, December 11, 2013
- Sheriff's Office report: Island teacher admitted inappropriate behavior with student, December 14, 2013
- Battery Creek school psychologist charged with sexual battery of student, placed on leave, December 20, 2013
This story was originally published August 28, 2014 at 4:31 PM with the headline "Former Hilton Head teacher sentenced to 6 years for inappropriate behavior with student."