Top > World > 2005 > November > 2005-11-26

Teacher Pleads Guilty To Student Sex

A female teacher in Florida pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of lewd and lascivious battery for having sex with a 14-year-old student. Debra Lafave, 25, whose titillating case made national headlines, will now be serving three years of house arrest and seven years` probation. The plea agreement keeps Lafave from serving time in prison. The sexual relationship apparently began after a field trip to Sea World, back in 2004.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Wayne Timmerman says Lafave will indefinitely 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. If convicted at trial, she could have faced up to 15 years in prison on each count. The plea agreement was also designed to resolve similar charges pending in Florida`s Marion County.

Lafave, a former reading teacher at Temple Terrace?s Greco Middle School says "I accept full responsibility for my actions." The boy in question told authorities the two had sex in her classroom as well as her home and in a car as a friend of the boy drove them around. He goes further by saying that Lafave told him her marriage was rocky, and she was aroused when thinking of having sex with him, because it was forbidden.