THE TEACHER GETS HER CHARGES DROPPED IN MARION COUNTY

This whole Debra LaFave case has been crazy to watch.

For the uninitiated (that is, if you're outside of Florida and don't have cable/satellite TV), Ms. LaFave is the Tampa middle school teacher who was busted for having sex with one of her 14 year old students. She had reached a deal in November with Hillsborough County prosecuters of three years of house arrest followed by seven years of probation in exchange for her guilty plea.

Prosecutors in Marion County, where she was facing charges for bangin' the same kid during a trip there, were hoping to reach a similar deal running concurrently. However, Judge Hale R. Stancil refused to sign off on the deal because it did not include jail time for Ms. LaFave, and Fifth Judicial District State Attorney Brad King in Ocala decided to simply drop the charges there.

The student's mother had wanted the deal approved, citing that she did not want her son to go through the media frenzy of a trial and the attention it would attract. She had expressed the same concern with Hillsborough County prosecutors, which was the basis for the deal in Tampa.

While one has to consider the mother's feelings about her child's well being, I believe there is a lack of consistancy in these type of cases. While Ms. LaFave is getting community control and probation, consider that if the roles were reversed --- a male teacher having sex with a female student --- the charges brought against him would be much more serious than lewd and lascivious battery, and he would definately face a lengthy prision sentence.

That's a discussion that we need to have.