Ex-teacher takes own life after being accused of having sexual relationship with 16-year-old student, officials say
A former Florida high school teacher has died from an apparent suicide while facing trial for repeatedly having sex with a 16-year-old student who said she’d kept clothes and a toothbrush at his home.
Charles Maglio, 54, a then-math teacher at Wellington Community High School who’d also taught at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, was facing two felony sexual misconduct charges after being arrested last month, the Palm Beach Post reported.
He’d been caught professing his love to the girl in a call monitored by cops — telling her that he could not wait for her to turn 18, according to the report.
Maglio was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in woods near his Coral Springs home on Oct. 1, according to the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office.
A firearm was found at his side and a note was located in his room, officials said, without elaborating on what he wrote.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office first started investigating in December after a restaurant owner reported to the principal that Maglio was sending flowers to a teen employee.
The girl contacted Maglio “and gave him a heads up about a possible investigation,” according to an affidavit cited by WPLG.
“She said she deleted all their text messages and was sure he did the same,” the affidavit said.
When questioned, the student reportedly said: “I don’t want him to get in trouble. I’m in love with him.”
The girl began to visit Magliko in his classroom after school because she was looking for “a mentor fatherly figure, but it escalated,” the document reportedly states.
She said they began communicating on social media and had sex several times at Maglio’s apartment. The victim said she had left clothes and a toothbrush at his place.
During a monitored phone call between the pair, Maglio professed his love and said he could not wait for her to turn 18 – though he did not discuss specific sexual encounters with her, officials said.
In September, Maglio surrendered to authorities and self-reported the encounters to the school district, according to his defense attorney, Cory Strolla.
“We understand that these are serious allegations, but we think that the only thing the state is going to be able to show is that he was more of a mentor to a young (person) who had a terrible home life,” Stroll had said.
After Maglio’s death was confirmed, his attorney said that the late teacher’s “family, friends and many of his past students were saddened by the tragic loss of his life.”
“This firm was going to vigorously defend the allegations against Charlie,” he added.
“Sadly, nobody wins in this case, but everyone involved loses.”
The Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office has now dropped the charges after the death of the former teacher, who’d been released on $10,000 bail after his arrest.
Maglio was hired in January 2016 to teach math at Wellington Landings Middle School and moved to the high school for the 2020 school year, according to school district records cited by the Palm Beach Post.
He had previously taught at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, according to the outlet.
