DEBRA LAFAVE

'Debra Jean Beasley' (born August 28, 1980) was a reading teacher at Angelo L. Greco Middle School in Temple Terrace, Florida, when she was charged with several counts of having illegal sexual relations with a minor in 2005.

Contents

Arrest and trial

References

See also

External links

Arrest and trial

Investigating officers pursued the case after being notified by the 14-year-old boy's mother. Officers tape-recorded conversations between Debra and the boy, then arrested Lafave at their next rendezvous. Compelling evidence was provided by the boy in the form of accurate and detailed descriptions of private characteristics of Lafave's body. One European newspaper published the boy's name and photo; legal action by his mother led to its being removed from the paper's website.
Because the illegal sexual activity occurred in two different counties, two separate sets of charges were filed. A trial date was set for December 5 at a court hearing after the prosecution and the defense could not agree on a plea bargain. The prosecution's plea deal involved prison time, which Debra and her parents found unacceptable. Debra's defense attorney caused a national stir that made headlines by remarking to the media that "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 a book written by her ex-husband Owen Lafave, he suggests that this statement was an intentional ploy by the attorney.^[1]
Shortly before the trial was scheduled to begin, the boy's mother, who had been insisting that Debra serve time in prison, learned that the trial was to be covered by Court TV and changed her stance, agreeing to a plea bargain with no prison time to prevent her son from having to testify in court. A new plea agreement was quickly worked out.
On November 22, 2005, Debra pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years of Community Control (house arrest) and seven years of probation, along with a string of other requirements.
On December 8, 2005, the judge in the second county refused to accept plea-agreement terms that included no prison time and set a trial date for April 10, 2006. In an unusual act, the prosecutor announced the charges were being dropped.
Lafave is serving probation until 2015 and her teaching certificate has been revoked.
Controversy within many social communities still exists to this day about the event.
On September 29, 2006, Backstreet Boy Nick Carter claimed on ''The Howard Stern Show'' that he lost his virginity to Debra Lafave when they were classmates [1]. She is referenced in the documents submitted to NBC in April 2007 by Cho Seung-hui, who carried out the Virginia Tech massacre[2]. South Park, a show known for parodying many socially well-known events, ran an episode which criticized the event.[3]
Lafave attributed her indiscretions to bipolar disorder, which is associated with intense and irregular mood swings and with hypersexuality and poor judgment during manic episodes.

References

1. Gorgeous Disaster: The Tragic Story of Debra Lafave. Owen Lafave, September 2006. Publisher: Phoenix Books. ISBN 1597775347

See also

★ Sexual harassment in education

★ Sexual abuse

★ Child sexual abuse

★ "Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy" a South Park episode parodying the scandal.

★ Carlos Mencia performed a skit on his show where he gave the boy a "Dee Dee Dee" award for turning in his "smoking hot teacher."

External links

★

★ Debra Lafave Newsgroup

★ Greco Middle School in Hillsborough County, Florida

★ CNN: Guilty of sex with student, teacher avoids prison

★ NBC Interview with Matt Lauer

★ The Smoking Gun

★ Lafave's Booking Information

★ Debra Beasley's Sexual Predator Information Flyer

★ Video commentary on Debra Lafave