Teacher Sex Plea Deals Up In Air

Prosecutors and defense attorneys tried to persuade a judge Wednesday to accept a plea deal that would prevent the case of a Tampa teacher accused of having sex with a 14-year-old middle school student from going to trial.

The victim, who had sex with teacher Debra Lafave, has suffered extreme anxiety from the intense media coverage surrounding the case, a psychiatrist who examined the boy told Circuit Court Judge Hale Stancil.

If the case did go to trial and the victim was forced to testify, it would be detrimental to the teen's health, Dr. Martin Lazoritz said.

Stancil said he will decide in the next seven to ten days whether to accept or reject the plea deal, which would keep Lafave out of prison. In December another plea deal had been presented to Stancil, but he had asked for changes.

Lafave was sentenced in Hillsborough County to three years of house arrest and seven years probation after pleading guilty Nov. 22 to two counts of lewd and lascivious battery for having sex with the boy in a classroom and her home.

She is also accused of having sex with the teen in Ocala, in the back of a sport utility vehicle, driven by the boy's cousin. A criminal investigation followed after the cousin's mother saw the pair and alerted the teen's mother.

Lafave, 25, agreed to a similar plea deal in Marion County that required her to register as a sex offender, to forfeit her teaching certificate, submit to warrant-less searches, and wear an electronic monitoring device when the court requires it.

The plea deal in Hillsborough County is contingent upon the one in Marion County being accepted. If Stancil decides to proceed with a trial, the first plea deal could be revoked. Hillsborough County prosecutor Mike Sinacore said they had anticipated a trial all along, but the media attention prompted the boy's mother to push for a deal.

Reporters were knocking on her front door, sending her gifts and talking to neighbors, in hopes of getting an interview with her and her son, Sinacore said. At one point, the victim's photo and name were posted on a London Internet news site.

"She had a level of insecurity about how well her family's privacy would be protected during a trial," Sinacore said.Lazoritz said the victim had trouble even talking about details of the case and was terrified that the intimate details of the sexual encounter would be played out in the courtroom and the public arena.

He added that the boy's grades are slipping, and he's failing algebra.

Marion County prosecutor Ric Ridgway said accusations that Lafave may avoid prison because "she is a woman" or because of "the idea that she's too pretty to go to jail" are ludicrous. The deal is solely a result of the family's wishes to maintain their privacy, he said.

If the case goes to trial, someone will have to pay the price, Ridgway said.

"The price is being paid by a 15-year-old boy who shouldn't have to pay that price," he said.

Lafave, dressed in a conservative black suit, sat expressionless during the hearing. Her attorney, John Fitzgibbons, said they had worked with the prosecution to protect the privacy of the alleged victim.

"It seems very clear if this case does resolve in trial there would be some significant harm to the young man," Fitzgibbons said.

There was a noticeable difference in Lafave's garb, reports Bill McGinty of CBS affiliate WTSP-TV in Tampa: a black electronic monitoring bracelet on her right ankle, part of the plea deal from Tampa.

Judge Stancil said he was concerned that the family might later decide to file a civil lawsuit, which would defeat the purpose of the deal. He said he needed more time to consider the matter.

"One of the most treasured resources we have are children. For twelve years of their life, the years when they are the most vulnerable, we place them in the hands of those in the teaching profession," Stancil said. "Teachers are very special and we place great trust in them to do what is morally and ethically right."