Prosecutors: Head of Raleigh school allowed teacher, later convicted of child sex crimes, to spend alone time with students

Nancy Errichetti, who was head mistress of Montessori School of Raleigh, rejected a plea deal from North Carolina last year for her role in a sex abuse scandal involving young girls and claims she took allegations of sexual misconduct at her school seriously.

Now, she faces a jury that will decide if she turned a blind eye and allowed the sexual abuse of a female student to continue under her supervision.

Errichetti is charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and aiding and abetting taking indecent liberties with a child.

The case centers around if Errichetti knew about the relationship between Nicholas Conlon Smith, a middle school teacher at the school, and a 14-year-old girl who was also a student at the school. Prosecutors say because she ignored this case of sexual abuse, more than a decade ago, another teenage girl was abused at the school by Smith.

Nicholas Smith is already serving 17 years in state prison after being convicted on numerous sex crimes related to abusing the two students at the school. Errichetti was arrested in 2018 and when she was arrested, she no longer worked at the school.

The two abuse victims are also sisters, according to the prosecution.

The biggest question: did Errichetti know enough about the sexual abuse allegations to stop it?

State prosecutor Melanie Shekita claims that Errichetti allowed Nicholas Smith to be alone with young girls on school trips.

Smith was in the girl's room late at night, asking them inappropriate questions and playing inappropriate games, according to Shekita.

"Parents trust their children will be safe when dropped off at school," Shekita said. "They were not safe."

Errichetti had the authority to fire, demote or punish Smith for his alleged actions with the teenage girl, but did not, the prosecution claims. Instead he advanced in his career, Shekita said Wednesday afternoon during opening statements.

"She was one person that had institutional knowledge," Shekita said. "She’s the one person that could have ended this abuse."

Shekita said that a teacher and parent brought concerns to Errichetti that Nicholas Smith was favoriting and abusing an eighth grader.

"Her grades, her health were declining. [She was] confused about what was happening because she was an eighth grader," Shekita said.

The defense contends that "no report of misconduct was made to [Errichetti] while she was head of the school."

"At no time did anyone know or disclose Nick Smith was having a sexual relationship," said Errichetti's defense attorney Roger Smith Jr.

Yet, the prosecution says during the course of the trial, they will prove that numerous parents voiced concerned about Nicholas Smith crossing clear boundaries with their daughters.

"You will hear that [Errichetti] asked to give them concrete examples. They gave her specific examples," Shekita said.

Prosecution claims there was no formal investigation into Smith's behavior

The prosecution claims that Errichetti drafted a behavior plan that prevented Nicholas Smith from being alone with students. It was signed by Nicholas Smith in 2012, and when he violated the plan, he was not punished. This was a pattern that continued, according to the prosecution.

There was no investigation into Nicholas Smith's behavior, leading him to continue abusing other female students, the prosecution alleges.

"Had there been a scratching of the surface, the Nick Smith sex abuse [would have been] uncovered," Shekita said.

Once the middle school student was old enough to go to college, she started seeing a therapist. That therapists was the one who reported the sex abuse to authorities, the state's prosecution claims.

"There were many signs [Errichetti] chose to ignore," Shekita said.

Defense: Hindsight is 20/20

Roger Smith, Errichetti's defense attorney, claims that in the moment it was difficult for Errichetti to process that a student at her school was being sexually assaulted.

"Please keep in mind all these events happened around [Errichetti] in real time, without the benefit of hindsight," Roger Smith said.

The allegations of sexual assault occurred five years apart, Roger Smith said, which made it more difficult for Errichetti to take action.

He said he will prove in court Errichetti was trying to figure out the right thing to do by reaching out to the school attorney and other teachers for advice.

In opposition to the prosecution, the defense claims that Errichetti invited parents to talk in 2014 and 2015 and did not hear any complains about Nicholas Smith's behavior.

"Criminal charges require criminal intent," Roger Smith said. "The state must prove she acted with criminal intent. Knowingly and willfully. The fact she is charged — that’s not guilt."

Several witnesses were called to the stand on Wednesday afternoon. WRAL News was ordered to not name or identify the victims in this case.

Even though Nicholas Smith has already been charged, he's expected to testify as a witness.

The courtroom was filled to the brim on Wednesday afternoon. The trial is expected to take several weeks.