It was one of the first teacher sex scandals to gain international attention.
In 2004, Debra Lafave was a popular young English teacher at a Tampa-area middle school. Newly married to her husband, Owen, the 24-year-old Lafave had sexual intercourse and oral sex with a student on four occasions: once in her house, once in her classroom, and multiple times in her car. In May 2004, the boy, 14 at the time, and Lafave went to see his cousin in Ocala. His aunt was alarmed at seeing him in the company of a provocatively dressed woman, and alerted his mother. Under intense questioning from his mother, the boy admitted that the woman was Lafave. The boy told police officers in Temple Terrace, Florida, that he had sex with Lafave three times in four days, according to court documents. One of those times was allegedly in a car while his 15-year-old cousin drove them around. He also said she performed a sex act on him multiple times, including one encounter at her home. Investigators began recording conversations between Lafave and the boy, and they arrested her in June 2004. She and Owen divorced the following year.
A trial date was set after the prosecution and defense could not agree on a plea bargain that involved prison time. Lafave faced a sentence of 5 to 15 years for each of the two counts of which she was accused.
The case drew international attention, and became even bigger when Lafave’s attorney, John Fitzgibbons controversially told a judge, “To place Debbie into a Florida state women’s penitentiary, to place an attractive young woman in that kind of hellhole, is like putting a piece of raw meat in with the lions.”
In November 2006, Lafave pleaded guilty in Hillsborough County court to two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior and was sentenced to three years of community control (house arrest) and seven years of sex offender probation. Prosecutors defended the deal, saying that sex offender probation in Florida is quite difficult to complete; Lafave could have gone to jail if she violated any of the probation terms.
Lafave’s guilty plea effectively ended her teaching career. Under the terms of her probation, she had to be home by 10 p.m. every day, could not leave Hillsborough County without a judge’s permission, and could not be around children. She also had to register as a sex offender. There was widespread skepticism as to whether a man guilty of lewd or lascivious battery would have received equally mild punishment.
Second arrest and violation of probation
Lafave was arrested on December 4, 2007, for violating her probation by speaking with a 17-year-old restaurant co-worker. The court ruled, however, that the violation was neither willful nor substantial, and it did not revoke her probation.
Her Life Today
Lafave is now 37 years old and she has completed her required community service and sex offender classes; she paid back the $13,000 court fees.
In 2011, she was in a relationship with a restaurant owner, and gave birth to twin boys.
Earlier this year, Lafave’s friend, Joe Zuniga, wrote a book about her — and said that the former teacher signed off on it. Entitled “Debra Lafave: A Crown of Beauty for Ashes,” the self-published book is sympathetic to his friend, who Zuniga says has grown both spiritually and emotionally since the scandal.
Debra Lafave has changed her last name and lives a quiet life.
