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Lafave saga takes new turn
Hillsborough
An all-too-brief
reunion
Lafave saga takes
new turn
Life around Tampa
Bay is no walk in
the park -- or to it
Seat shortage may
undercut school
plan
Brandon Bypass is
dead for now
The teacher-turned-felon is accused of violating probation in talks
with a teen co-worker.
By REBECCA CATALANELLO, SAUNDRA AMRHIEN, JUSTIN GEORGE, and ABBIE VANSICKLE,
Times Staff Writers
Published December 5, 2007
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A D V E RT I SE M E N T
Scott Griffin, a
childhood friend who
hired Debra Lafave
for his restaurant,
was shocked by her
arrest.
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charged in Ybor
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For their own good
[Skip O 'Rourke | T imes ]
TAMPA -- The Tampa Bay tabloid queen
is back.
It has been two years since former
Greco Middle School teacher Debra
Lafave was sentenced to house arrest
for having sex with a student.
A D V E RT I SE M E N T
Debra Lafave saga
Violation report (PDF)
Photo gallery
Video
'I think I should be in jail' (9/14/06)
Her ice-blue eyes and flawless
complexion had just about faded from
the nightly news and morning papers.
No jail time for Lafave (11/22/05)
Lafave's attorney tries to block photos (9/14/05)
But a few conversations with a 17-yearold girl in a Sun City Center diner
changed all that.
Lafave, 27, was arrested at 12:30 p.m.
Tuesday on a charge that she violated
her probation.
The arrest comes at the end of two
years of house arrest, just as her
attorney prepared to ask a judge to
drop her final year of house arrest and
place her on probation instead.
"I can only characterize this as
somewhat of a bizarre and unusual
violation," attorney John Fitzgibbons
said of the charge.
Lafave, according to the charges, had
intimate conversations with a 17-yearold co-worker at Danny Boys'
Restaurant in Sun City Center, in
violation of her sentence that prohibits
her from having unsupervised contact
with a child under 18.
[Ros s M antle | T imes ]
Lafave's attorney, John Fitzgibbons, called her
conversations with a teen "girl-talk."
Lafave and the Ruskin teen discussed
"non-work related issues such as family
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/12/05/Hillsborough/Lafave_saga_takes_new.shtml
Debra Lafave's involvement with
1/4
6/28/2016
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years
ago,
they
were
screwed-up kids
sent to the Florida
School for Boys to
be straightened
out. But now they
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men, scarred by
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endured. Read the
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video and portrait
gallery.
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insider tips to
Tropicana Field and
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reports
Hillsborough: Lafave saga takes new turn
problems, friends, high school, personal
life, boyfriend issues and sexual issues
in both private one-on-one
conversations ... and group settings,"
probation officer Michael Cotignola
wrote in a report.
Fitzgibbons said the conversations in
question amounted to nothing more
than "girl-talk ... among fellow
employees."
a student had led to a sentence of
house arrest.
Breaking News Video
"The way the Department of
Corrections interprets this condition of
her probation," he said, "is that her
voice can barely meet the ear of anyone
under the age of 18."
Lafave is serving three years of house
arrest followed by seven years of
probation in exchange for pleading guilty to two counts of lewd and lascivious battery
stemming from her conduct with a 14-year-old student in June 2004.
If a judge finds her guilty of violation of probation, she could face up to 15 years in prison
for each of the two felony counts against her, Fitzgibbons said.
On Tuesday, she was released on her own recognizance, meaning she didn't have to post
bail, two-and-a-half hours after being booked into jail.
But news of the notorious teacher-turned-felon's latest trouble whipped Danny Boys'
Restaurant into ground zero for media madness.
"CNN is on line 2!" an employee yelled to manager Scott Griffin. Larry King Live had called,
too, wanting to interview Griffin live. A television news helicopter hovered overhead as
journalists lined up inside the restaurant to talk with him.
"We don't understand this at all," said Griffin, 28, a childhood friend of Lafave's who hired
her to work at the restaurant in January 2006. "We are completely blown away."
Lafave quit three weeks ago, he said, after her probation officer called to say she could no
longer work there.
Griffin said he was "shocked" to hear of Lafave's arrest from reporters calling. He said that
while Lafave was not shy, he never heard her talk about personal matters in the
restaurant, and never noticed anything unusual about her relationship with the 17-yearold girl.
Fitzgibbons said Lafave and the young woman worked together for two years with the
knowledge of her probation officer. "This isn't something new," he said.
The 17-year-old girl could not be reached to talk about the matter. A man at her Ruskin
home declined to comment, saying the teen was not home.
Fitzgibbons does not dispute the charge that Lafave had conversations with the young
woman. And he said he doesn't believe the charge presents a major challenge to his plan
to ask a judge to release Lafave from her final year of house arrest.
"She has worked so hard on this," Fitzgibbons said, "and I view it simply as a technical
violation."
But a DOC spokeswoman and legal experts said sex offenders face stiff rules and a climate
of zero-tolerance for transgressions.
"Even the slightest offense is going to cause probation officers to ask for a warrant," said
Clearwater criminal defense attorney George Tragos.
The rules of Lafave's sentence state that she can't have any unsupervised contact with a
child unless the child's guardian, who has been advised of Lafave's crime, is present and
approved by Lafave's sentencing judge. Such contact can't occur unless Lafave has
successfully completed a sex offender treatment program or if the courts grant her an
exception.
DOC spokeswoman Jo Ellyn Rackleff said Lafave's probation guidelines allowed her to work
with minors inenvironments such as restaurants. But her contact with minors was to be
limited.
The incident shouldn't be perceived as minor, said Cloud Miller, a Kaplan University
Criminology professor and former Florida Probation and Parole Commission hearing officer.
Probation officers have no leeway in reporting suspected violations, he said.
The courts gave Lafave a chance to stay out of prison and expected her not to have
private conversations with juveniles, he said. As a former teacher, teenage girls could look
up to her and respect her views, advice or counsel on sexual matters or relationships,
Miller said.
"Somewhere along the line," Miller said, "the message has to be sent that this type of
behavior won't be tolerated."
But Tampa defense attorney Eddie Suarez suggested an attorney might only issue an
admonishment, if indeed her conversations with the 17-year-old were restricted to the
restaurant, where, one might argue, they had been supervised.
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/12/05/Hillsborough/Lafave_saga_takes_new.shtml
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6/28/2016
Hillsborough: Lafave saga takes new turn
"I wouldn't be surprised if this judge found that this was not a willful violation," he said.
Lafave has been in sex offender treatment for two years. But the latest offense means her
counselor has placed her on "corrective action," according to the violation report.
Fitzgibbons said that means she's receiving additional treatment to help her identify how
to avoid potentially volatile situations such as this.
"You go far overboard the other way," he said, "so that there's not even a hint of anything.
... You live on eggshells."
But at least one person believes Lafave's actions show a pattern of behavior that she
won't quit.
Owen Lafave, the man who was married to Lafave when she was arrested in 2004, had
some harsh words of advice for his ex-wife: "Try staying out of trouble and away from
children," he said.
The 29-year-old Tampa banker said he wants to see his ex-wife go to jail.
"You know, I'm not surprised," Owen Lafave said. "You know, here is someone who threw
away her husband, threw away her career to go live with her parents and work at a deli."
Debra Lafave is no longer engaged to her former boyfriend Andrew Beck, who appeared
with her at a news conference last year.
Since leaving the restaurant, Debra Lafave is working at her mother's business, Joyce
Beasley Barber Shop in Ruskin, records show. A GPS monitor strapped to her ankle
continues to track her movements.
Times researcher John Martin and staff writers Catherine E. Shoichet and Alessandra DaPra
contributed to this report. Rebecca Catalanello can be reached at [email protected] or
(813) 226-3383.
Local teacher sex charges
Oct. 23, 2007
Police arrested Christina Butler, a 33-year-old special education teacher Middleton High
School in Tampa, accusing her of having sex up to a dozen times with a 16-year-old boy.
Oct. 8, 2007
Former Wharton High School teacher and coach Jaymee Wallace pleaded guilty to having a
sexual relationship with a student who played on her girls basketball team. Wallace is
scheduled to be sentenced today in Hillsborough Circuit Court. She previously rejected
prosecutors' plea offer of three years in prison.
July 2007
Daniel Zdrodowski, a former band instructor at Seminole High School, was sentenced to 5
1/2 years in prison for having sex with a teenage female student.
January 2006
In Citrus County, Amy Lilley, a teacher and softball coach at Lecanto High School, was
sentenced to two years of house arrest and eight years of probation after pleading no
contest to having sex with a 15-year-old girl.
January 2002
James P. Hymiller, a former Wesley Chapel High School social studies teacher, pleaded
guilty to having unlawful sexual contact with a minor. He could have been sentenced to
nine years in prison, but instead was sentenced to two years of house arrest and seven
years of probation.
Compiled by Times news researcher John Martin
Timeline
Debra Lafave
June 21, 2004: Greco Middle School teacher Debra Lafave is accused of having sex with a
14-year-old boy. She is arrested and charged with committing lewd or lascivious battery on
a person under the age of 16.
June 25, 2004: Marion County sheriff's investigators issue a warrant for Lafave's arrest on
two counts of lewd and lascivious battery and one count of lewd and lascivious exhibition.
She turns herself in three days later.
April 2005: Debra Lafave is divorced from her husband, Owen.
Nov. 22, 2005: Lafave pleads guilty to two counts of lewd and lascivious battery as part
of a plea agreement with prosecutors in Hillsborough and Marion counties. She is
sentenced to three years of house arrest and seven years' probation. She is now classified
as a sex offender.
Dec. 8, 2005: Marion County Circuit Judge Hale R. Stancil rejects Lafave's plea deal in
Marion County and sets a trial date.
March 21, 2006: After hearing more testimony, Stancil again rejects Lafave's plea deal.
Prosecutors in Marion County respond by dropping all charges against Lafave, allowing her
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/12/05/Hillsborough/Lafave_saga_takes_new.shtml
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6/28/2016
Hillsborough: Lafave saga takes new turn
Hillsborough plea deal to stand.
Dec. 4, 2007: Lafave is arrested on a probation violation after her probation officer says
she has been engaging in unpermitted contact with a minor. She was talking about family,
dating and sex with a 17-year-old girl with whom she worked at a restaurant.
[Last modified December 5, 2007, 01:43:00]
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