Faithwire
  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • SCOTUS
  • Life
  • Religious Liberty
  • News
  • Politics
  • Faith
  • Opinion

Ex-Teacher Debra Lafave Has Become ‘Great Mom’ and ‘Christian’ Years After Student Sex Scandal, According to Friend

Photo Credit: Tim Boyles/Getty Images
Photo Credit: Tim Boyles/Getty Images
Share Tweet
By Meg Storm
Writer

November 13, 2017

Debra Lafave, the Florida teacher who made national news in 2004 when she was arrested for having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student, is apparently now living a quiet life as a mother and Christian. Joe Zuniga, a Latin recording artist and author, who has known Lafave for over a decade told People that she is a “completely different person” now.

“She’s a completely different person when she was when she was 24,” said Zuniga, who penned a self-published book, Debra Lafave: A Crown of Beauty for Ashes, about her life. “She has grown up a lot. She has become a Christian, and she’s a great mom. She recently got married, and she just ignores the media. She knows it will always be there, but she focuses on her life now. It’s very normal.”

READ: A Stunning Look Inside the Texas Church Where 26 Were Killed

Lafave was arrested in June 2004 after the student told police that his English teacher, who was a newly married 24 year old at the time, had sex with him three times in four days. As People reported, she and her husband divorced soon after, and she pleaded guilty in November 2006 to two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Lafave could have faced up to 30 years in prison, but the victim’s mother did not want to subject the boy to a highly publicized trial. Instead, Lafave entered a plea deal and was sentenced to three years house arrest, seven years probation, and treatment as a sex offender. A judge ended her probation four years early, in 2014. In court, she offered her “deepest apologies” to the boy and his family and said she was “deeply remorseful” for her behavior.

“My greatest regret would probably be the fact that I put this young man through this,” she said.

In the book, Zuniga wrote that his friend had a very difficult childhood and adolescence that included being raped at 13 and undergoing treatment for bipolar disorder. In the 13 years since her arrest, she has been married twice more. She gave birth to twin boys in 2011, and Zuniga said she has grown emotionally and spiritually.

“She is very good-hearted, and she does a lot for other people,” Zuniga told the Tampa Bay Times earlier this year.

She currently lives in the Tampa suburbs and is regularly recognized because, according to Zuniga, the now 37-year-old “looks the exact same.” People reported that she has completed her required community service and sex offender classes and paid back the $13,000 court fees. As a registered sex offender, she must regularly check in with the state of Florida to give her whereabouts.

Having stayed largely out of the spotlight, Zuniga wants people to know that Lafave recognizes the seriousness of her crime.

“She makes no excuses for what she did,” he told People. “She has always owned up to it. She says, ‘If I could turn back time, I’d never would do that.’ She understands that she didn’t just negatively affect her life, but she hurt many other people, and she is still very sorry for it.”

He said she has never come forward to tell her story because “she wants to just live her life as a wife and mom,” and he has a message for those who continue to send hate mail and hurl insults.

“There are always people who make ugly faces,” he said. “For me, judging is for God.”

(H/T: People)

Latest

  • News

    Charges Dropped Against Christian Woman Arrested After Silently Praying in Her Head Outside Clinic — but She Plans to Continue the Battle

  • Entertainment

    What’s the Biggest Mistake Christians Make When Balancing Truth & Love? Christian Singer Mike Donehey Unveils His Take

  • News

    ‘A Football Coach…Not a Pastor: NFL Legend Deion Sanders Targeted by Atheists for Alleged ‘Unconstitutional Actions’

  • News

    ‘God Is With Me’: Woman Was Just Seconds From Potential Death When 3,000 lb Boulder Burst Through Her Living Room

  • News

    PRAY: Police Search For Answers After NJ Christian Councilwoman Killed Outside Her Home


Sponsored
Sponsored

Newsletter
Signup

Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Charges Dropped Against Christian Woman Arrested After Silently Praying in Her Head Outside Clinic — but She Plans to Continue the Battle
  • What’s the Biggest Mistake Christians Make When Balancing Truth & Love? Christian Singer Mike Donehey Unveils His Take
  • ‘A Football Coach…Not a Pastor: NFL Legend Deion Sanders Targeted by Atheists for Alleged ‘Unconstitutional Actions’
  • ‘God Is With Me’: Woman Was Just Seconds From Potential Death When 3,000 lb Boulder Burst Through Her Living Room
  • PRAY: Police Search For Answers After NJ Christian Councilwoman Killed Outside Her Home

Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016

Categories

  • Christian Persecution
  • Coronavirus
  • culture
  • Culture
  • Entertainment
  • Faith
  • Faith
  • Family
  • George Floyd
  • Go!
  • Israel
  • Life
  • Life
  • Lifestyle
  • Media
  • Men
  • Mission Haiti
  • News
  • News
  • Opinion
  • P.O.V
  • Politics
  • Politics
  • Sponsored
  • Sports
  • Virtue
  • Women

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Navigation

  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Staff
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Sign up to get our newsletter your inbox every day.

Newsletter Signup

Do you want to read
more articles like this?