A former teacher at the Montessori School in Raleigh arrested in 2017 on over 30 child sex crime charges took a deal and entered a guilty plea this past August.

Nicholas Conlon Smith, currently age 39, was arrested on Nov. 7, 2017, on 16 felony counts of statutory rape with a 14-year-old girl and 4 counts of felony sex offense with a student from alleged incidents between August 2011 and June 2012.  The bond set for Smith was raised from $1 million to $2 million by the presiding judge in Raleigh in Nov. 2017.

More charges were filed after another victim came forward and child exploitation charges were added after sexually explicit images of female students were found on Smith’s home computer. Smith’s total after the additional charges were added rose to 33 felonies.

Smith took a deal and pleaded guilty on Aug. 28, 2020.  Judge Shirley Graham sentenced him to 20 years in prison. He will serve 17 years and four months due to credit for time already served. Offenses Smith pleaded guilty to include statutory rape, child exploitation, indecent liberties, and sex act with a student.

If he serves the full sentence, Smith won’t be released until 2056. In addition to prison time, no-contact order with his victims and he will have to register as a sex offender for a period of 30 years.

Nicholas Smith was the 49th teacher arrest tracked by this website in 2017.  Smith is only the sixth conviction found out of those 49 arrests.

ABC 11 reported that some of his accusers confronted him at the sentencing. According to that report, one victim who is now an adult told Smith that “You absolutely terrify me. I’ve realized I have no idea who you are. I probably never did.”

No update on Headmistress case

A lawsuit was filed against the school and the headmistress, claiming that the administration knew about Smith’s actions and did nothing to stop him. Smith was the math director at the middle and upper school. He taught there for 12 years.

The Complaint against the school is here and the Answer/Affirmative Defense documents are here.

The head of the Montessori School of Raleigh, Nancy Beth Errichetii, was indicted in May of 2018. Errichetti, who was age 55 at the time, was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and aiding and abetting taking indecent liberties with a child. There is no update on the status of Errichetii’s case available at this time.