





Fox News: Too Pretty for Prison?
A Florida reading teacher charged with having sex with a minor pleaded guilty on Tuesday to two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior as part of a plea deal that does not include any jail time.
"I accept full responsibility for my actions," Greco Middle School teacher Debra Lafave, 25, said during Tuesday's trial in Tampa.
The deal provides that Lafave will not serve any jail time in connection with multiple sex acts with a 14-year-old student unless she violates the terms of the plea agreement, which includes three years of house arrest and seven years' probation.
"To place an attractive young woman in that kind of hell hole is like putting a piece of raw meat in with the lions," Lafave's attorney, John Fitzgibbons, said in July of the possibility of jail time. "I'm not sure she would survive." (Emphasis mine.)
More:
Debra LaFave's former husband said if her crimes had been committed by a man he "would have definitely gotten some jail time."
The former Florida teacher Tuesday took a plea deal to dodge a prison sentence over allegations she had sex with a 14-year-old boy. She pleaded guilty to lewd and lascivious battery and received three years house arrest, followed by seven years of probation.
Owen LaFave said that deal sends the message that sex with minors isn't so bad. And, he said she still doesn't realize "how wrong it really is" to have sex with a child.
The boy told investigators he and LaFave had sex in a classroom, in her home near Tampa and once in a vehicle. The LaFaves were newlyweds at the time.
The ex-husband said it was the "most intense pain" he's ever experienced.
Debra LaFave won't have to wear a monitoring bracelet while on house arrest. But prosecutors say the 25-year-old is subject to random checks from a community control officer who must approve all of her movements. She will be allowed to leave the house only for work, to go out to shop for essentials and for other necessary trips approved by the officer.
The judge said LaFave will have to register as a sex offender, will forever lose her teaching certificate and can't have any contact with children, including the victim.
She also must complete an outpatient sex offender treatment program within four years and continue getting psychiatric treatment. She also must pay court costs and restitution for all the victim's psychiatric and physical care.
Meanwhile, the mother of the middle school boy who had sexual liaisons with LaFave said the media attention has taken its toll on the family.
The mother's name is being withheld to protect her son's identity. But she said the family wants to see it all end.
The victim's mother said the boy is "well-adjusted" and shows no signs of having been traumatized. The teacher still faces similar charges in Marion County, Fla. (Thanks to WDSU in New Orleans for the heads up.)
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