EVERETT — A former middle school teacher arrested last year as part of an undercover sting operation admitted Monday that he exchanged sexually charged messages with a someone he believed was underage.
Bryson Condotta faces up to a year in jail when he’s sentenced in May. Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Justin Harleman plans to ask for a two-month sentence. Condotta, 35, pleaded guilty Monday to communication with a minor for immoral purposes, a gross misdemeanor.
He’ll be on probation for two years. Condotta also will have to register as a sex offender for a decade.
Condotta was a history teacher at Alderwood Middle School in the Edmonds School District. He was placed on paid administrative leave after his September arrest. Condotta resigned Feb. 28, school district spokeswoman Debbie Joyce Jakala said Monday.
An Edmonds School District bus driver arrested during the same sting was fired in November. Ian Moore pleaded guilty Friday to communication with a minor for immoral purposes via electronic communications, a felony. He faces up to three months in jail. Harleman also plans to recommend a two-month sentence.
Moore, 30, would be under the supervision of the state Department of Corrections for a year. He also will have to register as a sex offender for a decade.
In explaining the difference in charges, Harleman told the court that each case was considered separately based on the different facts, including the steps each man took to meet with the fictitious underage girl.
The men were accused of arranging to meet a 15-year-old girl for sex after answering an ad posted on Craigslist. The suspects were actually exchanging messages with detectives.
Investigators called the sting Operation Anvil, a joint investigation by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshal’s Service. Detectives arrested several men, ranging in ages from 26 to 60. Two men were caught in the sting even after the arrests hit the news media.
Condotta told detectives he didn’t intend to have sex with the girl, but planned to counsel her, according to court papers. His messages to detectives revealed a different motive. He wrote about the different sex acts he intended to pursue with the girl.
Initially it appeared that Condotta was skittish about the girl’s age.
“I really wish I could. You don’t know how bad I want to,” he wrote, after learning she was 15.
The detective told Condotta to contact her if he changed his mind. The defendant waited 21 minutes before sending another message, Harleman wrote.
“Really want u to be 18 so bad, god I could use you. Imagine if you were in my classroom, yikes,” Condotta wrote.
“Just sayin what it would be like with u in class, too tempting.”
Condotta resumed communications with detectives the next day. He sent a picture of himself taken from his classroom. He asked the girl to switch to a social media site. He also arranged to meet with her at a Lynnwood apartment. Police arrested Condotta when he arrived at the building.
Moore showed up for his meeting with the 15-year-old in the school bus he drove for the district. He had been communicating with her all day while he transported special-needs students.
Moore wrote that he planned to have sex with the girl on the bus. He also told her that he wanted their meeting to be kept a secret.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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