State prosecutors decided Tuesday to drop charges against a former Tampa teacher accused of having sex with a 14-year-old middle school student.The decision, announced hours after a judge rejected a plea deal for Debra Lafave, means the victim won’t have to testify.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys had urged the judge to accept the deal for the sake of the boy involved. A psychiatrist who examined the teenager told the judge at a previous hearing that the boy suffered extreme anxiety from the media coverage of the case and does not want to testify.

Marion County Circuit Judge Hale Stancil, however, said the lack of prison time for Lafave under the plea deal “shocks the conscience of this court,” and he rejected it.

Assistant State Attorney Richard Ridgway, in explaining the decision to drop the charges, said: “The court may be willing to risk the well-being of the victims in this case in order to force it to trial. I am not.” [Source]

Such nonesense!

This is unbelievable. We know very well if the situation was reversed and the 14 year old student was a female whose 25 year old male teacher slept with, he would be in jail now! In a poll asking “Do you agree with the prosecutors decision to drop the charges against Lafave?” 59% said No and 41% said Yes. I wonder what the 41% are thinking!? I don’t care if she’s bipolar or whatever, I strongly believe she should have been charged…