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| 6/9/2006 8:37:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Accused man was respected N.Y. educator
Jim Brazda
Reporter
By the time John H. Monetti, 37, was arrested by Washington County Sher-iff’s deputies on May 29 he had already been in Blair for three days. This was not his first trip.
Evidence recovered from his rented van indicated the Memorial Day weekend trip was at least the third time in May he had traveled from St. James, N.Y. to Blair to visit a 15-year-old Washington County girl he had met on the Internet.
A May 29 traffic stop uncovered the situation, and ended with Monetti being detained for enticement of a minor through the Internet. The girl, who was also in the vehicle, told Deputy Doug Overfield she had begun talking to Monetti six months earlier. Monetti confirmed this as Overfield transported him to the Washington County Detention Center, according to court records.
Monetti was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Wednesday, June 7, but he was granted a continuance. He has hired Carlos Monzon, a Nebraska attorney, to represent him. No new date for his next court appearance has been set.
In his native New York, Monetti has been a teacher, elementary school principal, volunteer firefighter and equestrian coach.
Monetti worked as an elementary teacher for the Commack School District on New York’s Long Island from 1992 until Sept. 5, 2001 where he taught fourth and fifth grade classes at the Burr Intermediate School. In September 2001, Monetti received a school administrator/supervisor provisional certificate and a school district administrator permanent certificate from the New York State Education Department.
Since then, Monetti has worked for several Long Island school districts.
From 2002 until 2004, Monetti worked as an administrator at the Northport-East Northport School District where he was the principal of Dickinson Avenue Elementary School. A statement issued by the school district states that upon his hiring four years ago, Monetti passed a thorough process that involved the staff, parents and a criminal background check.
According to the district’s statement, “he came here with a stellar reputation and, in fact, had been one of the most parent-requested teachers in the Commack School District.”
At the end of his second year as principal in the district, Monetti resigned and took a position as an elementary school principal in the William Floyd School District. Again, Monetti had to pass background checks before being hired.
He did not work there very long, however; he was terminated in October 2005 “for issues surrounding instruction and instructional leadership,” according to a statement released by the William Floyd School District.
The statement went on to say the district was not aware of any allegations of inappropriate behavior toward children at the time of his termination and that it would be inappropriate to comment further while the matter is under investigation.
After being fired from William Floyd, Monetti returned to Commack School District, this time as a sixth grade substitute teacher. He began working there February 10, 2006, during the same time he was allegedly corresponding with a 15-year-old Washington County girl via the Internet. He was fired on May 31, after district authorities learned of his arrest in Nebraska.
A statement released by the Commack School District officials states during Monetti’s entire term of employment in the district there were no incidents of inappropriate behavior attributed to him.
“He was well respected,” said Dr. James Hunderfund, superintendent of the Commack School District. “Having known him and seen him teach here for nine years, people were shocked. I’d say stunned. No one could believe it.”
Monetti also sat on the board of trustees of the Knox School, a private school in St. James, N.Y. As a board trustee, Monetti often judged equestrian competitions. He was coach of the Dowling Equestrian team, the NYU Equestrian team and a trainer at Smoke Run for the Intercollegiate Horse Show Competition.
“We were shocked to learn of this situation,” said Jennifer Lawrence, chairman of the board of trustees of the Knox School. “At the moment, we have no information other than what we have read in the newspapers.”
Monetti served as a trustee for the past year and he visited the campus less than 10 times for various meetings, she said. Last fall he participated in a riding clinic, at all times in a group with other adults present.
One Long Island parent said Monetti was also working on getting his pilot’s license, and had invited her and her daughter to go flying with him. She said Monetti had become like a family friend.
She also said her 12-year-old daughter, who trained with Monetti for equestrian trials, sometimes felt uncomfortable around him, and when asked once to go someplace with him, she declined.
Outside of his life at school, Monetti was also a volunteer at the St. James Fire Department. However, he had not shown up at the fire hall for some time, said Sean Callahan, attorney for the fire department.
“He has not been around and the fire district is investigating the allegations as they’ve been presented,” Callahan said. “We have taken every measure to insure the safety of the members and the public at large and we are investigating the situation because these are only allegations as far as we know.”
Suffolk County Police searched Monetti’s home at 14 Pinoak Lane in St. James on behalf of law enforcement in Washington County.
“The search warrant enabled us to seize his computer,” said Deputy Inspector Mark Griffiths of Suffolk County Police 2nd Precinct. “The computer establishes the relationship between him and the girl.”
Child pornography was also found on Monetti’s computer, Griffiths said. The investigation in Suffolk County remains open, and Monetti could be charged if he ever returns, he said.
After arresting Monetti, Washington County deputies carried out a search warrant on both the rented van Monetti was driving at the time of his detention and the room at the Econo Lodge motel in Blair where he stayed while he was in town.
The warrant turned up nine unopened condoms and an empty condom box, “Discover Eastern Nebraska” magazine, a Levitra prescription card containing one pill and four empty pill bubbles, a receipt for a room at the Econo Lodge dated May 19 and another one for May 26 thru May 28, NWA flight itineraries showing travel from New York to Omaha on May 19 and returning to New York on May 20, Blair 3 Theatre ticket stubs from May 5 and May 27 and a gold and black key chain vibrator, among other things.
Deputies also obtained a sample of Monetti’s DNA through a buccal swab, two cell phones, a laptop computer and a personal data assistant. From the hotel room at the Econo Lodge investigators recovered the bedding as evidence.
Editor’s note: Laura Weir of the Times of Smithtown (N.Y.) contributed to this report.
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Reader Comments
Posted: Thursday, March 08, 2007
Article comment by:
Someone in NY
I understand that this happend a while ago but the recent news about him going to jail sparked my intrest to look online for information. I read in one of the paragraphs about something "fishy" in New York. Let me tell you, I worked in the school with Mr. Monetti when he was the principal and when he was fired. I am not the only one that went to someone higher up about Mr. Monetti and some of the things we heard. The year he was fired from the school, I was told by female students he wanted them to call him "Uncle Monetti" which I thought was extremely inappropriate. I told the girls to make sure they went home and told their mothers. Not to mention the feelings I would get in the pit of my stomach... it was the little voice telling me something just was not right about this man. I witnessed things such as him sitting with female students on the bench in our school and when he leaned over to put his arm around one of them she cringed. Also, there were countless times he had lunch with female students in his office... only girls. So to think there was something "fishy" going on you are on the money. It sickens my stomach and unfortunatly after working with him, I was not 100% surprised when I did hear about that poor girl in Nebraska. I hope he gets a huge amount of jail time and he rots.
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