Is it just me or does 10 years seem a little heavy handed? I would have thought 10 years in the prison system would only aggravate any predatory behaviour they were trying to suppress.

Ex-teacher Ragusa gets decade in prison
Avoids trial on sex charges with plea deal
Updated: Monday, 28 Jun 2010, 4:50 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 28 Jun 2010, 3:58 PM EDT
               
A MyFoxTampaBay.com staff report
TAMPA - A former teacher was sentenced this afternoon to a decade in prison for having sexual relationships with two students, bringing the high-profile case to a close.
Stephanie Ragusa agreed two months ago to plead guilty to three counts of lewd and lascivious battery and two counts of unlawful sex with a minor in exchange for the sentence imposed Monday by Judge Chet Tharpe.
That sentencing followed a presentation by prosecutors that included a recorded phone call between Ragusa and one of the Davidsen Middle School students in which she acknowledged that their relationship was illegal.
The mother of one of the students testified that Ragusa spent an unusual amount of time with her son, starting when he was 14 years old.
"She basically introduced herself by calling me and taking special interest in his needs," said the woman, whom FOX 13 chose not to identify. "She would call a couple times a week but that didn't last long because I started feeling funny about the situation."
Ragusa's attorney called several witnesses in defense of his client, including her psychiatrist and father.
Ragusa herself stood before the judge and, in a quivering voice, thanked her family and friends for support before apologizing.
"I stand here today willing to take responsibility for my actions," she said. "I'm sincerely sorry for the pain and aggravation I have caused to the victims and their families."
But her words were not enough to sway the judge to lighten her sentence. Judge Tharpe blasted Ragusa as "arrogant" and "selfish."
"We have laws in this state to protect children because children cannot protect themselves," Tharpe said while levying the full 10-year sentence allowed by the plea deal. "You are a teacher and as parent, we place our trust in teachers to provide a safe environment in which our children can learn. You violated that trust in the worst imaginable way."
"I honestly believe, Ms. Ragusa, that you are a sexual predator and I honestly believe that you are a danger to the children in this community."
In addition to the 10 years in prison, Ragusa will be on probation as a sexual offender for 15 years, meaning she must stay away from schools and other locations where children gather.
Link here:
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp ... de-in-prison-062810

kinda cute.. she might be a screamer

okay, all kidding aside, i wonder how these children will think about these situations when they're mature up... would it be a traumatizing or prideful experience? Let's be honest, everyone must've had a teacher they wanted to bang in middle/high school.

This shit just should not happen in an ideal world!
Most of all, I am shocked at the sentence! 10 years then 15 years probation? I mean come on, On one hand, if I was the judge I would have more considered the consentual aspects in the relationship with the teacher - I think the victims are only 2 years below the legal sex limit!
On the other hand, when you are dealing with infants or are in a community role it seems as though the sentence is always more harsh because of the headlines and outrage it creates.

Agreed...

Quite a few teenage boys must have fantasized with the hot teachers.

oh man looking back at my school years there were so many hot female teachers i had. i would be lucky to even score one of them. that would be one of my ultimate fantasies as a teenager, but i can't turn back time so it's one of those fantasies that will never come true. so i don't think the teacher should of had such a harsh punishment of 10 years.

yeah i had a crush on my teacher when i was still in school. use to fail maths just so i can stay in her 'special neeeds' class!! damn i should have made a move back then... i always loook back on my school days and think if i had my courage today i could have banged soo many of my teachers then.... what a thought!!

thats what i was just thinking.. where was all these teachers when i was in school?
i would be thankful if i can have my way with my tutor or one of my teachers..

Come on guys, its not about your school fantasies of banging your hot teachers. These students are portrayed as victims. Its psychologically damaging to these poor students now and probably more so in the future. Instead of viewing this teacher as your fantasy model, view her as a criminal, almost rapist, prisoner who has deducted 25 years of full freedom of her life. Penalty enough?

Well this teacher must be ugly because the hotter the teacher that have sex with kids the less jail time they get. There was one REALLY hot one that only got a few hours of public service. I gotta find the site that put all the teachers up and their sentence ranging from hot to fat and ugly.

You mean 10 years loss of freedom, with good behaviour, (which shouldn't be too hard not many teenage boys in a woman's prison) she should be out in 5 years. The probation may well be serve concurrently as well.


Actually she looks quite attractive to me. If you click on the link there are pictures and a video of her begging for clemency from the judge. Claims to have found god etc. the usual balderdash.

Now this is a much more sensible approach. No need to spend millions of tax payers money filling jails with people who made a few silly mistakes.

Female teacher banned for five years after sending sex letters to 16-year-old student
                July 02, 2010
A FEMALE Queensland high school teacher who, according to court documents, sent sexually explicit letters to a male student has been banned from reapplying to teach for five years.
The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal has found former state school teacher Laura Naomi Fields posed "an unacceptable risk of harm to children".
Documents handed to QCAT earlier this year by the Queensland College of Teachers claimed Ms Fields first sent a letter to a then 16-year-old student on November 2, last year, stating she was "increasingly turned on and drawn to him" and was having "crazy and intense fantasies" while still at the school.
"I do miss you and crave your company and I would love to have a friendship with you ... but I'm not sure if I would always be able to keep my hands off you," she wrote.
Three letters were sent to the student - the second and third after the student had graduated.
In its finding against Ms Fields, QCAT said her behaviour could be "described as disgraceful on a number of grounds".
"Firstly she was in a position of trust and responsibility towards a student," QCAT said.
"Secondly, the highly-sexualised language is disturbing.
"Ms Fields showed little remorse or insight into her actions as demonstrated by her third piece of correspondence and by her reaction in writing after she was advised of the investigation ... and the tribunal must conclude there would be a possibility of it occurring in the future.
"She poses an unacceptable risk of harm to children.
"The Tribunal orders that Ms Fields be prohibited from reapplying for registration or permission to teach for five years."
Link here:
http://www.news.com.au/breaking- ... rfku0-1225886994346

It's amusing that all these news are generally about female teachers going for their younger male students. I would expect there to be a lot more news about male teachers going for their female students.

There very few male teachers in the system these days. I do quite regularly see stories of male authority figures abusing their male and female charges, but that's old news. Female authority figures seducing their young charges would seem to be a new modern phenomenon or is it like the whole catholic pedophile thing in that it's now acceptable to report these people?

Nah, she's a teacher

that means she has authority over the kids, and it means they trust her and obey her more than they would naturally

nothing to do with schoolboy fantasies - those are best handled outside of school with someone who has no other status than their native sexual attractiveness.  If a teenager goes and hangs out with his hot neighbour it's a totally different matter.  

The kid might want the attention (probably did at least at first) but then would not be able to handle breaking off when he gets bored or starts to feel used, due to the power imbalance.  

Teachers KNOW they have a duty of trust, and they know the penalty if they break it.  10 years is fine.