Lafave Awaits Ruling

Debra Lafave wore an ankle bracelet with her strappy shoes during a court hearing Wednesday in Ocala.

CHRIS URSO / Tribune

By THOMAS W. KRAUSE tkrause@tampatrib.com

Published: Mar 9, 2006

OCALA - Testifying is often healthy for crime victims, but a psychiatrist told a judge it could be devastating for a teen who says he had sex with his former English teacher, Debra Lafave.

"Certainly, for the next several years, it would be something he has to overcome," Martin Lazoritz said.

Lafave, now 25, pleaded guilty to Hillsborough County charges that she performed sex acts with the then 14-year-old in her Riverview town house and in her portable classroom. She faces similar charges in Marion County, where police say she drove the teen on two occasions and had sex with him in her sport utility vehicle.

The teen's testimony and the media attention it would bring could set back his recovery for six to eight years, Lazoritz told the judge.

"I don't think he needs counseling," Lazoritz said. "He needs to be able to play basketball in anonymity."

At Wednesday's hearing, prosecutors called Lazoritz in their attempt to persuade Marion County Circuit Court Judge Hale Stancil to approve a plea deal for Lafave. Under the deal, she would serve three years of house arrest followed by seven years of probation.

Her plea in Hillsborough County was contingent upon a judge's acceptance of the same deal in Marion County.

In December, Stancil shocked the prosecution and the defense when he said he was not likely to put his signature on any deal that did not include prison time for Lafave.

Wednesday's hearing ended without an answer.

Stancil said the parties will return to court in eight to 10 days, when he will announce his decision.

If Stancil does not sign off on the deal, the case could go to trial in Marion County, Lafave could rescind her plea in Hillsborough County and the teen could be forced to testify.

Although prosecutors and Lazoritz decried forced testimony, Stancil did not seem opposed to the idea. No one likes to testify in court and undergo cross-examination, he said.

"Police officers, who testify on a regular basis, do not look forward to testifying," he said.

The crime, Stancil said, is significant. He noted that children should benefit from the greatest protection and teachers should be accountable when they breach the public trust.

"For nearly eight hours a day, nine months a year, we give teachers our trust," Stancil said.

Throughout Wednesday's hearing, prosecutors focused on the intense media coverage generated by the case.

Assistant State Attorney Mike Sinacore, who prosecuted the Hillsborough County charges, told the judge that the victim's family, initially, was adamant that Lafave get prison time as punishment.

As the case progressed, however, the victim's family grew weary of the media attention.

For more than a year, reporters knocked on their door and swarmed their neighborhood.

Although the local media were expected to keep the teen's privacy should there be a trial, Sinacore said he was more worried about the Internet.

A Web site has posted a picture of the teenager, characterizing him as a pimp, Sinacore said.

As the trial date approached, cable news station Court TV decided to tape the trial in its entirety. Although the channel producers agreed not to show the teen's face, they said they would show his family, Sinacore said.

Eventually, the family had enough, Sinacore said. They asked prosecutors to offer a deal without prison time.

Stancil asked Sinacore whether his office has ever forced someone to testify.

Sinacore said he had put unwilling victims on the stand when he thought their lives were in danger, including a woman who was raped and beaten by her ex-husband. Testifying, he said, was in their best interest.

He said he never forced a child victim of sexual abuse to testify.

Bonnie Bucqueroux, who coordinates the Victims and the Media Program at Michigan State University, said sexual assault victims often are reluctant to press charges or testify because of the media attention and society's reaction real or imagined.

"I think people are increasingly privacy conscious in our society as we have less and less of it," she said. "They are really concerned about having their private lives splashed all over the local media."