Just to keep it moving along:
hxxp://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-pflannigan29mar29,0,1121516,print.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Teacher accused of having sex with student is on house arrest until trial
A former music teacher facing life in prison for allegedly having sex with a student, beginning when the child was 11, can leave jail and return to house arrest while awaiting trial.
Since late February, Carol Flannigan, 50, has been in the Palm Beach County Jail after she drove about a mile and a half into an area off limits to her because of potential proximity to the former student.
Flannigan is accused of carrying on a 19-month sexual relationship with a former student at Rolling Green Elementary School in Boynton Beach beginning in June 2002. The boy told investigators the two had sex at the Boca Raton home Flannigan shared with her husband, Douglas DePue, who has filed for divorce.
Terms of Flannigan's house arrest had permitted her to leave home to visit her child and to meet with her attorney, Kenneth Ronan. Flannigan was monitored by a global positioning device that tracked her whereabouts. The violation occurred as Flannigan traveled to see her autistic son in a facility off 45th Street, according to testimony Monday.
When she was placed on house arrest, Flannigan was instructed to avoid specific boundaries bordering the child's home and school, according to testimony. But on Feb. 19, as Flannigan drove north, she exited Interstate 95 at Gateway Boulevard and drove east to Seacrest Boulevard before getting back on the interstate at Hypoluxo Road. Ronan told Circuit Judge Lucy Chernow Brown that since his client only had an hour to visit with her son, she exited the interstate to avoid a traffic jam. Ronan told the judge the incident occurred on a Saturday when school was not in session.
"I think it's a big misunderstanding," Ronan said.
Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Millien disagreed, arguing that Flannigan specifically was ordered not to exit the highway under any circumstances.
"We all endure traffic every day," the prosecutor said.
As soon as Flannigan entered the forbidden area, the tracking device sounded and instructed her "to leave the area immediately or go to jail," testified Deputy Kasandra Smith, who supervises Flannigan's house arrest.
Smith said Flannigan called and left a voicemail explaining what happened but was arrested and sent to jail.
Brown found that Flannigan "willfully violated" the house arrest agreement but allowed her to return home. She can only leave for court appearances and to meet with her attorney. Flannigan's son is now in a facility in Miami and she will not be able to visit him.
Missy Stoddard can be reached at [email protected] or 561-832-2895.
Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
