Teacher Who Had Sex With
Teen Arrested - Again
Debra Lafave is
Engaged
Lafave's sexual liaisons made
tabloid headlines
Judge Wants Ex-Teacher's
Plea Deal Changed
Too
pretty for prison
Plea Deal Sought In Teacher
Sex Case
One set of sex charges dropped
against Fla. ex-teacher
Judge Decides to Let the
Admitted Sexual Predator Go Free
Debra
Lafave: The Case Against Female Sexual
Predators
Beyond
Predators and Victims: The Not-so-Sensational
Story of Debra Lafave and Her 14-Year-Old
Student
What's Getting Into these
Teachers - Talk about "teacher's
pet"
Teacher Who Had Sex With
Teen Arrested - Again
A former middle school teacher serving house arrest
for having sex with a 14-year-old student was
arrested Tuesday for violating her probation, state
records showed.
According to a Department of Corrections report,
Debra Lafave discussed her personal life and other
subjects with a teenage waitress at a restaurant
where they both worked. One of the terms of her
probation had been that she was not allowed to have
unsupervised contact with any minors without
permission.
Lafave could technically be sentenced to prison
for up to 15 years for a probation violation, but
people close to the case say it's unlikely she'll
serve any time behind bars for such a minor
offense.
Her attorney, John Fitzgibbons, said he was
disappointed that her probation officer ordered her
arrest for what he called an "insignificant"
violation. He characterized the conversation
between Lafave and the 17-year-old girl as "typical
workplace conversation that women have with their
women colleagues."
"It was a workplace friendship — no more,
no less," he said.
Lafave, 26, is serving three years house arrest
and seven years probation after pleading guilty to
having sex with the 14-year-old boy in a classroom
and her home in June 2004.
She was arrested Tuesday morning and released
from jail later on her promise to appear in court
for a hearing later.
State attorney's office spokeswoman Pam Bondi
said prosecutors will not comment on Lafave's
arrest until the court hearing.
Probation records show Lafave worked at a
Tampa-area restaurant called Danny Boy's until last
month when she started working as a receptionist at
her mother's barbershop.
While working at the restaurant, the report
said, she and a fellow waitress discussed "non-work
related issues such as family problems, friends,
high school, personal life, boyfriend issues and
sexual issues. ... (Lafave) received no permission
from the court to have any contact with
minors."
Lafave was ordered by her probation officer to
quit working at the restaurant "due to the current
allegations," the report said.
The teenage girl was interviewed as part of the
investigation.
Fitzgibbons said Lafave has done so well on her
first two years of house arrest that he plans to
ask a judge to convert the final year of house
arrest to straight probation, which is less
restrictive.
The arrest surprised everyone, he said.
"I don't think anyone felt this was a huge
issue," he said.
Other terms of her probation include sex
offender treatment, random drug testing and 200
hours of community service, which she has already
completed. She also is prohibited from capitalizing
on the worldwide media attention she received after
her arrest.
She pleaded guilty to two counts of lewd and
lascivious battery in November 2005.
Source: By Mitch Stacy, Tampa, FL
(12/407) news.aol.com/story/_a/teacher-who-had-sex-with-teen-arrested/20071204163009990001
Debra Lafave is shown in her booking photo
Tuesday. She was arrested for allegedly discussing
her personal life with a female co-worker. Her
probation does not allow her to have contact with
minors without permission.
Lafave became a tabloid sensation after being
arrested in 2004, above, for having sex with a
14-year-old male student. She was 23 at the time.
Lafave later said she "crossed the line."
Lafave, now 26, is serving three years house
arrest and seven years probation after pleading
guilty to charges that stemmed from having sex with
the boy in a classroom and her home. The judge felt
she was too pretty to go to jail.
Lafave has said that her bipolar disorder
contributed to her state of mind at the time she
had sex with the boy. She avoided prison by
pleading guilty in 2005 to two counts of lewd and
lascivious battery.
Lafave's sexual liaisons
made tabloid headlines
Last month, a Hillsborough judge said she will
forever lose her teaching certificate, must
register with the state as a sexual predator, may
not have any contact with children including the
victim, and will not be allowed to profit from the
sale of her story or personal appearances.
Source: www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/12/08/national/a171624S82.DTL
What's Getting Into these
Teachers - Talk about "teacher's pet"
Debra LaFave Update: Plea Deal Being Worked On - If
you were hoping for a tawdry trial for the hot
blonde Florida middle school teacher accused of
having sex with a 14-year-old boy, you're probably
not going to like this news: Lafave and prosecutors
are expected to enter into a plea deal within the
next month. According to Lafave's lawyer, after his
client has been analyzed by state and defense
psychiatrists this month he hopes that he and
prosecutors will review the reports and try to find
mutual ground. Assistant State Attorney Michael
Sinacore said prosecutors "intend to convey a plea
offer,'" that could resolve the case by LaFave's
next hearing on June 16.
Source: DumbassDaily.com
Plea Deal Sought In Teacher
Sex Case
The 24-year-old teacher accused of having a sexual
tryst with a 14-year-old student is expected to
enter into a plea deal within the next four weeks,
lawyers said in a court hearing.
Debra Lafave's attorney, John Fitzgibbons, told
the judge that his client has been analyzed by
state and defense psychiatrists. In the next few
weeks, he said, he and prosecutors will review the
reports and try to find mutual ground.
Assistant State Attorney Michael Sinacore said
prosecutors ``intend to convey a plea offer,'' and
he expects the case to be resolved by the next
hearing, scheduled for June 16.
Fitzgibbons has said he hopes a plea deal can be
reached to avoid putting the boy on the witness
stand.
Fitzgibbons has formulated an insanity defense
and contends Lafave has ``severe emotional
issues.''
An insanity defense has two parts, Fitzgibbons
said Wednesday. First, it must be determined
whether the person in question is mentally ill, and
second, whether the person knows right from
wrong.
``I don't think there is going to be any dispute
that Debbie is ill and that she has suffered
through quite a bit over the years,'' Fitzgibbons
said.
In a Temple Terrace police interview, a fellow
teacher at Greco Middle School said Lafave normally
was strict with her students but had become much
more casual by the end of last school year. The
teacher said Lafave began to miss work and blame it
on headaches. Lafave told the other teacher she was
stressed because of the anniversary of her sister's
death, police records state.
Lafave's pregnant older sister, Angela Beasley,
was killed in an accident involving a drunken
driver in April 2001.
After the 2004 school year, Lafave and the
14-year-old often talked via cell phone, court
records show. Prosecutors allege the two engaged in
sexual activity at her Riverview town home, then
had sexual intercourse on June 14 in the portable
classroom where Lafave taught.
The relationship continued on a trip to Ocala,
where the teen's aunt saw the two. The aunt called
the teen's mother. He later admitted to the
relationship and police were called.
Lafave faces up to 15 years in prison and sexual
predator status if convicted on charges of lewd and
lascivious battery. Her attorney would not
speculate whether jail time would be included in a
plea deal.
Source: Reporter Thomas W.
Krause can be reached at E-Mail
or news.tbo.com/news/MGBU2JXDW8E.html
Judge Wants Ex-Teacher's
Plea Deal Changed
Ocala, Fla. -- A hitch has developed in a plea deal
agreed to by a former teacher who pleaded guilty to
having sex with a 14-year-old student.
The agreement was meant to resolve charges
against Debra Lafave, 25, in two counties. But the
judge in one of the counties has balked, said Ric
Ridgeway, a spokesman for the State Attorney's
Office.
Lafave was sentenced to three years of house
arrest and seven years probation after pleading
guilty last month in Hillsborough County to two
counts of lewd and lascivious battery.
That plea agreement was supposed to also cover
charges in Marion County, where Lafave allegedly
had sex with the boy in a sport utility vehicle
while his 15-year-old cousin drove.
But Judge Hale Stancil wasn't happy with an
agreement the Marion County prosecutors reached
with defense attorney John Fitzgibbons and asked
for some changes, Ridgeway said.
Fitzgibbons said the judge indicated that he
wanted to hear expert information about a trial's
potential impact on the two boys involved.
Ridgeway said the attorneys would take a new
plea deal to the judge.
Source: www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/12/08/national/a171624S82.DTL
One set of sex charges dropped
against Fla. ex-teacher
Prosecutors in one Florida county decided to drop
charges, against a former Tampa teacher accused of
having sex with a 14-year-old idle school
student.
The decision, announced hours after a judge
rejected a plea deal for Debra Lafave, means the
victim won't have to testify. Lafave's sentence in
another county for having sex with the same boy
stands.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys had urged the
judge to accept the deal for the sake of the boy
involved. A psychiatrist who examined the teenager
told the judge at a previous hearing that the boy
suffered extreme anxiety from the media coverage of
the case and does not want to testify.
Marion County Circuit Judge Hale Stancel,
however, said the lack of prison time for Lafave
under the plea deal "shocks the conscience of this
court," and he rejected it. (Note: In essence,
he rejected any punished for Lafave and let her go
free.)
Assistant State Attorney Richard Ridgway, in
explaining the decision to drop the charges,
said: The court may be willing to risk the
well-being of the victims in this case in order to
force it to trial, I am not."
Lafave, 25, was already sentenced to three years
of house arrest and seven years of probation in
HJillsborough County, where she was charged with
having sex with the same boy in a classroom and her
home. She pleaded guilty November 22 to two counts
of lewd and lascivious battery under a plea deal
there.
In Marion County, she was accused of having sex
with the boy in a sport-utility vehicle.
Lafave said at a news conference later that she
was getting treatment for dipolar disorder.
"I pray with all my heart that the young man and
his family will be able to move on with their
lives," she said. "Again, I offer my deepest
apologies."
Hillsborough County prosecutor Mike Sinacore has
said that the victim's family had anticipated a
trial, but that the media attention prompted the
boy's mother to push for a plea deal. (Such a
deal.)
Source: USA Today
Judge Decides to Let the
Admitted Sexual Predator Go Free
Debra could have gotten 75 years in prison but she
was just too pretty to go to prison because what
might happen to her there. Does anyone know what
happens to any man who goes to prison for the same
thing with an underaged girl? Often, they are
killed. But, then again, maybe they aren't "pretty"
enough to get to be under partial house arrest for
a three years and then set free again. House arrest
in this case means a curfew from 10pm to 6am. (She
shouldn't have much trouble meeting up with other
underaged boys the other 16 hours of the day, as
long as she stays away from the places they
congregate, because they generally aren't available
during adult times between 10pm and 6am. It seems
like it should have been the other way around -
House arrest between 6am and 10pm.)
Studies show that 59% of students in college
while they were minors and women represent 43% of
teachers involved in sexual contact with an
underage student. And, while
The Judge was also concerned about the impact on
the boy if it was taken to trial. Has anyone seen
the impact it has on girls in the same position,
yet, everyone always pushes to make the man pay -
and not with house arrest, but placed in a prison
where, Debra's attorney said, it's "...like placing
a piece of raw meat in with the lions."
The American Association of University Women,
found that fully 6.7% of the high school students
had had relationships involving physical sexual
contact with one or more teachers.
We're still looking at a legal system that
protects women from themselves. And, while I think
the age of consent in all states is too high, why
are some male teachers locked away for doing the
same thing female teachers do? After all, women
represent 43% of teachers involved in sexual
contact with an underage student so this definitely
isn't an isolated case.
In Canada and in much of Europe, the age of
consent for sexual relations has been lowered to
14. In many countries in South and Latin America
and Southeast Asia, it isn't unusual to find
couples marrying and starting a family when the
girl becomes a woman (around 13). She often marries
a 21+ year old boy, for security purposes.
Harmful to Minors author Judith Levine agrees
that age of consent laws are often arbitrary and
run contrary to what is known about adolescent
sexuality and the psychological effects of sexual
relationships between adolescents and adults. "Age
of consent laws," says Levine, "have very little to
do with scientific research. They're really about
the preservation of feminine purity." So, the
question remains, when are we and our laws going to
grow up?
Source: Gordon Clay
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