Tampa, FLORIDA

March 13, 2008 - Stephanie Ragusa, 28, a Davidsen Middle School 7th grade math teacher, was arrested and charged with five counts of lewd and lascivious battery for having sex with a 14-year-old male student.

Investigators say a school resource officer at the school was tipped to the activity and contacted the victim. The victim admitted he had a sexual relationship with the teacher between Oct. 1, 2006 when he was 14 years old, through May 4, 2007, after he had turned 15.

Full Name: Stephanie Marie Ragusa

The Tampa Bay Tribune headlined the story, "Teacher, Boy Had Affair, Officials Say" (Mar 14)
Ragusa will be placed on paid leave.

St. Petersburg Times story, "Teacher accused of having sex with teenage boy " (May 12) on the arrest affidavit.

An arrest affidavit from investigators says the victim's story was verified by his knowledge of tattoos of a flower and a bug on Ragusa that are visible only if she is unclothed.

Also, she admitted their relationship and her awareness of the potential risk involved in a monitored telephone call with the victim, the affidavit states.

Ragusa has been on paid leave since February for an unrelated, but unspecified reason. The school system spokesman said he was not at liberty to discuss why. She has now been suspended with pay.

Ragusa is the third female teacher from Hillsborough County schools in recent years to be accused of having sex with a teenager they knew from school.
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Jaymee Wallace was sentenced to three years in prison and three years probation for having sex with a 15-year-old female student. TT entry.

Debra Lafave got three years of house arrest and seven years of probation for sex with a 14-year-old boy. TT entry.
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PREVIOUS HISTORY March 14 - Ragusa failed to disclose previous arrests on her job application. When the school district staff found the truth, they hired her anyway. She had a DUI arrest in 2004, later dropped. She was arrested in 2004 in Pasco County, accused of aggravated battery, but that charge, too, was dropped. Irregardless of the outcome, she was required to list the arrests.

She was two years in the classroom. Her first semester in the classroom, the principal reported her to the Child Abuse Hotline. Her second year, at her third school, that principal accused her of using profanity and telling students about her personal life.
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Tampa Tribune (Mar 15): Teacher Was Hired Despite Arrests
In addition to the DUI and the battery arrests, on May 1, 2001, Ragusa was charged with first-degree petty theft, a misdemeanor. After she completed a pretrial intervention program in 2003 with the Salvation Army, prosecutors dismissed the charge. Failing to disclose information is not a reason to bypass a candidate, Linda Kipley, the district's general manager for professional standards, said.

A school board member now suggests that any hiring procedure allowing a second chance should be reviewed. Ragusa's personnel file contains two letters of reprimand.

Comment at story: "Lets see here. She has a past record of arrests AND she lies on her employment application as to those arrests, but is still hired. Wow, a great role model for the children."

QUALIFICATIONS - March 30 - St. Petersburg Times in a story about teacher sex scandals reports that Stephanie Ragusa, arrested on charges of having sex with a student, went through alternative certification. Lisa Marinelli, a Pasco long-term substitute arrested on similar charges, has a high school diploma and two days of training.

DETAILS EMERGE April 4 - Details released in teacher sex case

ARRESTED (AGAIN) April 15 - Ragusa was arrested again after an investigation revealed that she had sex with another student when she taught at Davidsen Middle School. The boy was 15. Ragusa is accused of having sex with the teen about 20 times between Feb. 15, 2007 and March 10, 2008, the sheriff's office said. She was charged with two counts of sex with a minor and lewd and lascivious battery.

From the Tampa Tribune: Arrest Report

AND NO ONE NOTICED?? April 17 - Ragusa misspelled summa cum laude on her resume when she said she earned the honor from the University of South Florida. She wasn't an honors student.

ARRESTED (AGAIN) April 29 - Ragusa was arrested for the third time after being caught by police at the home of one of the boys she had a relationship with.

According to police Ragusa had gone to the boy’s house to talk about her impending trial but the discussion ended up with the pair in bed. When Ragusa left the house the officers nabbed the 29-year-old and placed her back in jail.

BAIL MIGHT NOT BE SO EASY THIS TIME April 30 - After her third arrest, the company that issued her bond has dropped her. Prosecutors are asking that she be denied bail.

DOCUMENTS RELEASED May 8 - A judge ordered police to release a telephone transcript. They released several documents. Links here or at the news story.

EVALUATION June 24 - In her spring evaluation, Ragusa was found unsatisfactory in every category except how she dressed. She was told March 20 that she would not be considered for employment for the upcoming school year. (TT - it's amazing how those confidential personnel records no one can talk about in school districts find their way to the news rooms in lurid cases where the media interest is high.)