Debra Lafave - Double Standard in Teen Sex Case?

Mom2Ashli

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I can't believe they dropped the charges on the Lafave Case. She is the female teacher in Tampa, FL that had sex with a 14 year old boy. I keep wondering why the charges against her were dropped. :confused3

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1754355&page=1

March 22, 2006 — When Debra LaFave, the former Tampa, Fla., teacher accused of having sex with her 14-year-old student, learned that state prosecutors had dropped charges against her, she called her ordeal "a bump in the road."

"I'm a strong Christian woman and I believe God has a path for me and this was just a bump in the road," she said.

John Fitzgibbons, Lafave's lawyer, acknowledged that Lafave referring to having sex with her student as a "bump in the road" could offend people, but said she was also referring to her struggle with bipolar disorder.

"Well, yes, but on the other hand she suffers from a serious mental illness and there were six psychiatrists who were prepared to testify had we gone to trial that she is indeed mentally ill," he said told "Good Morning America." "She is being treated now and is a different person than she was a couple of years ago and she recognizes how serious that situation was."

He also said this was Lafave's way of showing optimism for what lies ahead.

"This has been a long ordeal," Fitzgibbons told "Good Morning America," "but she's optimistic and I think she's looking at this on a long-term basis and she'll go on with her life and have a good life."

Florida state prosecutors dropped charges against Lafave, 25, after a Marion County judge rejected their second plea agreement. The plea agreement would not have required Lafave to serve any time in prison.

Still, Lafave isn't going completely without punishment. In November, a judge in Hillsborough County sentenced her to three years of house arrest and seven years probation, after she pleaded guilty to two counts of lewd and lascivious battery under a plea deal there. She had been charged with having sex with the boy in a classroom and at her home.

Her lawyer said that the charges in Marion County, related to an incident in which she allegedly had sex with her student in her sport utility vehicle as the boy's cousin drove, might have been dropped because of her mental illness.

"I think that was a big factor, plus the wishes of the family and the young man not to go forward with this case," Fitzgibbons said. "I think in summary, this was a good result for everyone."

"And I'm confident that this would never, ever happen again and probably would not have had she been properly diagnosed and received the proper medications," he added.
 
I guess I'm a little confused as to what the double standard you're referring to would be?
 
I just wonder if because she happens to be a very Pretty Female compared to a Male Teacher if that is why the charges were dropped. :confused3
 
She's mentally ill and the kid's family doesn't want to pursue it. She got 3 years house and rest and 7 years probation. What more do you want?
 

The article I read on msn yesterday focused a lot on part of the second plea deal and that it would have required the student to testify- he is being seen by a therapist who says the thought of all the high media attention to the case really sends the kid spinning and it would be no good to force him to testify at the trial...:confused3
 
NMAmy said:
I guess I'm a little confused as to what the double standard you're referring to would be?
First off, home confinement and not prison...this one irritates me to no end. Any male teacher would have been thrown in prison for something like this. And as for the charges? According to the news on the radio this morning, the charges were dropped because the boy in question would not testify. So I'm not sure if there's anything else that can be done there, but it's still irritating.
 
I am just wondering if we would feel the same way if this were a Male Teacher getting off with House Arrest and Probation?

I know somebody that was accused of something similar and even though the family dropped the charges the State picked them up. And he was found NOT Guilty of said charges. The State took the family out the it and proceeded on their own.
 
NMAmy said:
I guess I'm a little confused as to what the double standard you're referring to would be?

I am confused by this too.

eta: OP was clarifying as I spoke. Sorry...the story made me automatically think of Mary Kay Letourno (sp) and I was trying to see a double standard issue there...
 
pilikia97 said:
The article I read on msn yesterday focused a lot on part of the second plea deal and that it would have required the student to testify- he is being seen by a therapist who says the thought of all the high media attention to the case really sends the kid spinning and it would be no good to force him to testify at the trial...:confused3

She admitted to having sex with him several times in several different locations. I guess I don't understand why he would have to testify.
 
Maleficent13 said:
I am confused by this too.

Okay I will change the title to exactly what the web-site had. Not my words theirs. More of asking a question than making a statement.

Sorry for the confusion.
 
Kind of OT, but what exactly IS house arrest. I know you wear the ankle bracelet ala Martha, but what are the rules? Can you go buy groceries, go to the doctor, etc? I thought Martha even went to work sometimes. Hmmm, if I got my house just so, it could be heaven! People would invite you to baby showers or other obligations, and you could say "Not today thanks, I'm under house arrest!" Hmmm.

Yes, there is a double standard wrt men and statutory rape and women. Now, why this teacher got a lesser sentence then Mary Latourneau (?) is another story. But personally, I don't think teenaged boys are as damaged as teenage girls by this kind of thing. That's where the double standard lies, and I don't think there will ever be a jury of 12 people that all think differently.
 
Beth76 said:
She's mentally ill and the kid's family doesn't want to pursue it. She got 3 years house and rest and 7 years probation. What more do you want?
Jail time would be nice. :thumbsup2 Aren't all pedaphiles mentally ill be it male or female? I should say that most people nowadays that get arrested for anything suddenly has a long history of mental illness. :rotfl2:
 
Not once has she take responsiblity for what she did. She abused a child, and called it a "bump in the road". :furious: This just sicken me when I saw her interview. I realize the parents didn't want to go through with the charges, however what she got is just a slap on the wrist. She blamed what happend on media and bipolar. Basically what is being said is that is was o.k. what she did because she has a disease. What she did was wrong bipolar or no bipolar. So it is o.k. that parents or adults are abusing, raping or killing kids as long as they have bipolar? :confused3 That seems to be the message here. Having bipolar does not make someone unaware of what they are doing, bipolar is a mood disorder, it effects your mood not your ablility to know what is right or wrong. My mother is bipolar and I lived with years of her ups and downs, so because she has bipolar it makes it o.k. what she did? NOT! When she was down she was very abusive, suicidal, and just plain mean. Then when she was up she was like the a totally different person. But she always knew what she was doing and what she did. They (I'm not saying all, but a huge number) also do things as a means of getting attention such as attemps at suicide.

Also to say that she has been properly diagnosed and is on the proper medication so they are confident that she will never do this again how in the heck does he know? People suffering from bipolar (again, I'm not saying all, but a huge number) are notorious for stopping their medication! :rolleyes:

I'm glad she can go on with her life, what about the poor child she had sex with and will have to live with that for the rest of his life! :furious:
 
What I heard on the news this morning has me puzzled. It was reported that the judge in the case would not accept two attempts as a plea bargain, as neither one of them included jail time, and he felt that was too lenient.

So the prosecutor decided that there was no other alternative, as the victim would not testify, and drops all charges?

So that, in effect, is even less than what the plea bargain would have called for.

WHAT WAS THE JUDGE THINKING??
 
Beth76 said:
She's mentally ill and the kid's family doesn't want to pursue it. She got 3 years house and rest and 7 years probation. What more do you want?
EXACTLY! Besides, I think there is more to this story than meets the eye. :rolleyes1
 
she needs to be glad that she was not here in Texas and that it was not the son of someone I know:rolleyes:

I child molester is a child molester , without having to pay for the crime she will DO it again . It has been proven again and again. I hope she doesnt go younger next time
 
First of all Mary Kay was the exception not the rule. When they were discussing this case on the news this morning they gave the statistics of punishment for male teachers vs. female and there is a double standard. As the mother of sons and daughters I would be angry and sickend if any of my children were abused by his or her teachers! I also wonder if Debra Lafave being very pretty had anything to do with the prosecution dropping the case. I think with her admitting guilt they really wouldn't need the boy's testimony. The whole thing just stinks. I heard her this morning she was not remorseful at all. It was all about her and her illness. Her bump in the road blah, blah, blah!
 
I believe that Mary Kay and the student are now together. Given that, it makes me sick that my state wasted all that money and effort to keep them apart. Really did no good, a total waste.
 
I don't think this is a "child molestor" in a true sense of the word. yes what she did was unacceptable but how old was she when this happened? I believe she's 25 or so now and how old was the boy? Not that the age or anything makes it right but I guess abuse in the sense of "authority" but we don't know all the facts...did he hang around her room everyday, what did he say, was he complimenting her and telling her things she, as a woman, would love to hear? He was obviously consenting..it never mentioned rape did it? She did a bad thing but I just don't see it as she waited by the playground, picking out young boys and all the rest you see in/on the news everyday.

FWIW -There are a few boys and girls in our neighborhood that aren't even in 12th grade yet and are developed enough that they look like seniors in college. They constantly tell people they are older than they are - you have to be very careful. This is certainly different than knowing one in your classroom.....
 
Yes, I think it is a total double standard.

It is alarming that much of society views a female pedophile in a different light than a male. It is seen every single time a woman teacher is charged with having sex with a student, it is romanticized instead of condemned. Ie "the boy probably loved it...it was a romantic, consentual may/december relationship"...as opposed to "he is a pervert using his power and authority to take advantage of a poor defenseless girl."
 












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