Debra Lafave

Debra Jean Williams (née Beasley; born August 28, 1980), better known by her former married name of Debra Lafave, is an American sex offender and former teacher at Angelo L. Greco Middle School in Temple Terrace, Florida. In 2005, she pleaded guilty to lewd or lascivious battery against a teenager stemming from a sexual encounter with a male student referred to as "M.M." in police reports and "Jack" in her estranged then-husband's book Gorgeous Disaster: The Tragic Story of Debra LaFave, in the summer of 2004 when she was 23 and "M.M." was 14. Lafave's plea bargain included no prison time, opting for three years of house arrest due to safety concerns, seven years of probation, and lifetime registration as a sex offender.

Early life and education Lafave attended East Bay High School until 1996. From 1995 to 1996, Lafave dated Nick Carter. She also had a relationship with classmate Casie Diana Martinez; which allegedly also became sexual. As a result of that relationship, Lafave's parents withdrew her from East Bay and transferred her to Bloomingdale High School which she would graduate class of 1998. Around that time, she took a gig as a pin-up model for the magazine Makes & Models (M&M). Later on when news of the sex scandal made the headlines, her leaked modeling photos from that time period contributed to the sensationalism of the story.

She attended the University of South Florida and graduated with a degree in English. In the midst of her junior year in college, her then-five-months-pregnant 24-year-old older sister Angela "Angie" Beasley was killed in April 2001 by drunk driver Army Captain Joseph Piotrowski when he crashed his jeep into older-sister Beasley's 1998 Nissan. Piotrowski was convicted in August 2001 under court-martial and sentenced to 13 years in prison. He received a concurrent 30-year sentence in state court. In interviews, Lafave (who said she had a close relationship with her sister) would describe that event as having been particularly traumatic for her and said it led her to have several bouts of depressive moods.

After college graduation in 2002, she was hired as an English teacher at Greco Middle School in Temple Terrace, Florida. On July 19, 2003, following her first year of teaching, she married banker Owen Lafave. on four different occasions between June 3rd to June 17th of 2004: Once in the bedroom of her Riverview town house condominium, once in her portable classroom, and multiple times in the back seat of her car, a 4x4 silver 2002 model Isuzu Rodeo Sport.

Despite having a reputation among classmates & teachers as being a mischievous, funny, & cocky kid who constantly test rules & pushes boundaries, in reality (known only to those close to him; like his cousin) "M.M." was still a virgin who had never been intimate with a girl prior to Lafave . Lafave on the other hand already had a reputation among male students as the young attractive "hot" teacher. Although "M.M." was not Lafave's student, he knew of Lafave due to this reputation prior to being acquainted with her.

In April 2004, Lafave first became acquainted with "M.M." while watching tag football game a few of her students were participating in which "M.M." & his friend John Wood also happened to be fellow participants. Allegedly, that day "M.M." and John Wood took the initiative to approach Lafave and according to witnesses, Lafave loved the attention that "M.M." gave her. As Lafave continued visiting "M.M." and his friends at their games, she once bought them candy and invited them to regularly hang out in her portable. Lafave began dressing more provocatively such as wearing short skirts and low-cut or tight shirts. She also complained to her friends and colleagues of sexual dissatisfaction from her husband as well as issues with insecurity exacerbated by the pressures of her married life brought on by the lifestyle of being married to her husband Owen; who worked as a banker at the time. That week, Lafave went out of her way to put "M.M." in detention to spend time with him in the detention room, even sometimes inviting his friends. Other times she asked "M.M." to stay after school to be with her. Around that time, the two allegedly first kissed. On one occasion that Lafave asked "M.M." (and his friends) to clean her portable classroom, "M.M." asked Lafave to flash her breast at him. Allegedly, Lafave only pulled up her shirt to reveal a tiny bit of the bottom of her bra, but when "M.M."'s friends left and Lafave was alone with the boy, "M.M." and Lafave allegedly kissed. On the last day of school, a student hosted a party inviting all other classmates including "M.M.". Lafave came with "M.M." to the party and was the only teacher present.

At one point in the sexual relationship, Lafave gave "M.M." a pewter key pendant with a butterfly and the word "Hope." She told "M.M." that she had an identical pendant and wanted him to have one as a symbol of the bond of their relationship.

Toward what became the end of their sexual relationship, Lafave mentioned quitting her job at Greco to get a job at the high school "M.M." would soon transfer to, and even talked about getting married and going public about their relationship once "M.M." turned 18, but "M.M." by that point allegedly told Lafave that he needed a break. Busted Lafave's sexual relationship with "M.M." was exposed when the two visited "M.M."'s cousin in Ocala and had a final sexual encounter. His aunt saw the pair in a parking lot and was alarmed at seeing "M.M." in the company of a provocatively dressed woman; which according to police reports, was a purple & pink capri pants with matching color halter top which tied to the neck (and allegedly no bra or panties underneath).

Legal proceedings Two separate sets of charges were filed, because the alleged incidents occurred in both Riverview, in Hillsborough County, and Ocala, in Marion County. A trial date was set after the prosecution and defense could not agree on a plea bargain that involved prison time. Lafave faced a sentence of 5 to 15 years for each of the two counts of which she was accused. Under the terms of her probation, she had to be home by 10 p.m. every day, could not leave Hillsborough County without a judge's permission, and could not be around minors. She also had to register as a sex offender.

On December 8, 2005, Marion County Circuit Judge Hale Stancil rejected the plea deal, claiming that any agreement not requiring prison time "would undermine the credibility of this court, and the criminal justice system as a whole, and would erode public confidence in our schools." He set a trial date for April 10, 2006. The Marion County state's attorney subsequently dropped the charges. In a statement, the prosecutors cited an assessment by psychologist Martin Lazoritz that found "M.M." would be so severely traumatized by a trial that it may take eight years for him to recover.

Physical appearance The issue of Lafave's attractive physical appearance became a point of argument in court. Lafave's lawyer John Fitzgibbons stated, "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." Suzanne Goldenberg of The Guardian asserted that Lafave avoided jail time due to a faulty belief among Americans that she was "too pretty for prison". Ariel Levy, writing in New York, called Fitzgibbons's statement "notorious", and Lafave's ex-husband criticized it. Commentators have claimed that the attention given to this particular case arose from Lafave's physical appearance. Provocative modeling photographs of Lafave have circulated on the Internet since she first gained notoriety.

The Temple Terrace Police Department came under scrutiny for taking graphic nude photos of Lafave while she was in stirrups in a jail cell. The lead detective who requested the nude photos of her was arrested before the trial in an unrelated prostitution sting.

Second arrest and violation of probation Lafave was arrested on December 4, 2007, for violating her probation by speaking with a 17-year-old restaurant co-worker. The court ruled, however, that the violation was neither willful nor substantial, and it did not revoke her probation.

Aftermath Lafave later attributed her criminal actions to bipolar disorder, which is associated with intense and irregular mood swings, and with hypersexuality and poor judgment during manic episodes. She was also treated for bipolar disorder after allegedly being raped at age 13 by a classmate.

In July 2008, within the terms of her plea deal, Lafave petitioned to convert the remainder of her house arrest to probation, having satisfied other terms such as sex offender therapy and community service. Her petition was granted and her house arrest ended four months early. On October 29, 2009, Lafave was cleared to have unsupervised contact with some children. On September 22, 2011, Lafave moved to end her probation four years early, based upon having completed all other obligations. Her petition was granted and her probation ended that day. "M.M."'s family stated that they would appeal the decision. The early termination of probation was reversed by the 2nd District Court of Appeals on August 15, 2012.

Lafave asked the Florida Supreme Court to reinstate her release from probation. On January 24, 2013, Lafave was ordered to continue her probation while the Florida Supreme Court waited to hear the case. In October 2014, the Florida Supreme Court ruled in favor of Lafave.

In popular culture The novel Tampa, by Alissa Nutting, was inspired by the case of Debra Lafave.