Third Grade Teacher Commits Suicide Following a Sexual Assault Allegation

10-20-16 Washington DC:

Less than three weeks after being confronted by school officials over a sexual abuse allegation, a DCPS teacher took his own life.

John Domenick Bontempo, a 45-year-old third grade teacher at Neval Thomas Elementary School in Northeast, was in the process of taking on a formal mentoring role with a D.C. youth when the situation turned tragic. The mother of the minor accused him of child sexual abuse, setting off police and school investigations that were underway when Bontempo committed suicide in late August, according to police reports and interviews with a number of investigating agencies.

Karen Douglas, program manager with the National Center for Children and Families, notified the Metropolitan Police Department on Aug. 26 that she had received an emailed suicide threat that morning from Bontempo, who taught writing, social studies, and science.

“Apparently there had been some allegation regarding a young person [Bontempo] had contact with,” says Douglas, who until then had been unaware of the situation. “He didn’t mention specifics, but he was devastated that anyone would think he would have such a relationship given how close he was to the youth and the family. He said goodbye, and that he knew the action he was going to take was going to impact people who cared about him.”

Body found in DC park is suspected abductor of Relisha Rudd, 8, police say

4-1-2014 Washington DC:

The body found in a Washington, D.C., park is that of a man who was suspected of abducting an 8-year-old girl, police said Tuesday.

Relisha Rudd has been missing since March 1, when she was last seen with Kahlil Tatum, a 51-year-old janitor at the homeless shelter where Relisha lived.

"It appears the body has been dead for about 36 hours," D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier told reporters Tuesday, adding that the cause of death was suicide.

Lanier said Tuesday she was "hoping to finish the search of the park by the close of the day" Wednesday.

The search for Relisha intensified last week when authorities began combing Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens. The search was prompted by evidence that Tatum had spent time there after Relisha's disappearance.

DC Police Officer Marc Washington facing child porn charges found dead

12-11-2013 Washington DC:

WASHINGTON - A D.C. police officer facing child pornography charges apparently committed suicide one day after being released from jail.

Marc Washington was found unconscious in the Washington Channel near Hains point just after 8 p.m. Tuesday.

He had just been fitted with a GPS monitoring bracelet.

Washington was freed from jail Monday morning and was on his own until Tuesday when he was given a GPS ankle bracelet and told to go home where he would be under house arrest.

But instead of going to Waldorf, Md., the 32-year-old apparently drove himself to Hains Point where he may have jumped into the frigid waters of the Washington Channel.

FOX 5 has been closely following this case since the Seventh District officer was arrested last week. Now a timeline is starting to come together.

We now know Washington was released from the cellblock at U.S. District Court Monday morning and told to show up at the Pretrial Services Agency at 633 Indiana Avenue, NW, where he would be placed into the high intensity supervision program.

The Prisoner Suicide Puzzle

8-15-2013 Washington DC:

Three inmates in Washington, D.C.'s city jail have killed themselves in the last two months. Add in a fourth, who took his own life in November, and that's a staggering figure for a lock-up system that hadn't previously seen a suicide in three years.

A pair of reportedly self-inflicted deaths in June was enough to spark a comprehensive plan to address the situation, including immediate efforts to make it physically more difficult for the more than 1,700 inmates regularly housed in the city's central detention facility to hurt themselves behind bars.

"One suicide is one suicide too many," says Dr. Forrest Daniels, health services administrator for the D.C. Department of Corrections.

The corrections department announced that jail guards would double security check efforts, making rounds every 15 minutes, up from the previous 30-minute check system. Director Tom Faust also said that his staff would undertake a comprehensive review of the jail's suicide prevention protocols.

The moves did not stop another inmate, 56-year-old alleged sex offender Mike Johnson, from hanging himself in his cell last week. Jail officials said they would immediately require all prisoners to share cells, in the wake of the latest incident, and would no longer issue razor blades to new inmates until they have completed a mental health evaluation. Paul Mannina, a Labor Department lawyer who killed himself just five days after being locked up for allegedly attacking a female co-worker in her home in Northwest D.C., reportedly cut his throat with a jail-issued razor. The three other inmates believed to have committed suicide since November died by hanging.

Lawyer Accused of Home Invasion, Sex Assault Dies in D.C. Jail

6-18-2013 Washington DC:

WASHINGTON — A U.S. Department of Labor lawyer who was accused of a home invasion at a co-worker’s home has been found dead in his cell at the D.C. Jail.

The Department of Corrections said in a statement that 58-year-old Paul Mannina of Ashton, Md., was found unresponsive on the bunk in his cell early Tuesday. The cause of death is under investigation.

Mannina had been in jail since last week. He was charged with attacking a co-worker at her northwest Washington home. According to court documents, the woman told police Mannina had a “crush” on her and that he used a stun gun on her during the attack. He was charged with first-degree burglary while armed and third-degree sexual abuse.

D.C. jail inmate found hanged in apparent suicide

6-29-2013 Washington DC:

A 42-year-old D.C. jail inmate was found dead Saturday in an apparent suicide, D.C. corrections officials said. His death came less than two weeks after another jail inmate was found dead with his throat cut.

In Saturday’s incident, Walter Calloway, of Southeast, was found hanging in his cell and could not be resuscitated. Details could not be learned. According to corrections officials and court records, he was being held on a charge of child sex abuse.

On June 18, Paul Mannina, a Labor Department lawyer charged in a sexual assault, was found dead in his cell. As of last week, no official determination of the cause of death had been made, but two knowledgeable officials said he had slashed his throat with a razor. ..Source.. by Clarence Williams and Martin Weil

Apparent suicide at D.C. Jail is third in two months

8-6-2013 Washington DC:

A 53-year-old man awaiting trial on sexual abuse charges was found hanging in his cell at the D.C. Jail on Monday, the third apparent suicide at the facility in the last two months.

Officials found Mike Johnson, of Southwest D.C., hanging in his cell and tried to resuscitate him. He was taken to Prince George’s Hospital Center where he was pronounced dead at 4:20 p.m. Monday. Mr. Johnson had been housed at the jail since Dec. 31. He was arrested on charges of first-degree sex abuse and later indicted on 10 counts, including kidnapping, sexual abuse and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.

In July, after two other inmate suicides, the jail announced it was instituting new suicide prevention protocols. Two other men, also charged with crimes involving sexual abuse, were found dead at the jail this summer. ..Source.. by Andrea Noble