Pedophile teacher beats charges

Debra LaFave, the hottie teacher in Tampa who boinked her 14-year-old student, had her charges dismissed yesterday by the prosecutor. Story here.

I'm sure I'm not the only one asking this question, but what if the teacher had been a man and the student a female? Does anyone honestly think the charges would have been dropped against a male teacher in this situation?

Anywho, LaFave holds a press conference afterwards and says (among many things) that the affair was due to...bipolar disorder. Yessiree, the disorder that makes your highs really high and your lows really low caused her to get hot and bothered over a 14-year-old boy. I have no doubt that she has some sort of mental disorder that played a role in her jumping the bones of a high school boy...but it ain't bipolar disorder!

Is the boy, now 16, scarred for life? Who knows? If I had to guess, I'd say that I doubt he's scarred. Heck, he may feel confident as can be! While I'll be the first to admit that I would have loved to have had a teacher like LaFave growing up, I'll also admit that my reaction as a parent would have probably been the same as that of the parents of LaFave's victim: outrage.

She confessed. The victim didn't want to testify. LaFave's lawyers said that she was "too pretty" for prison (which apparently didn't cross her mind in the back of the SUV with her boytoy). In the end, the prosecuting attorney declined to press charges.

My sole concern is the double-standard that exists over the issue. A male teacher has consensual sex with a female student, and he's a monster and needs to be locked up for a long time. A female teacher has consensual sex with a male student, and she's a poor soul who just needs some help. The male teacher is acting on male aggression and can't control his testosterone-laden urges! The female teacher is a dainty young thing who was just misguided and crying out for help!

Again, the boy is probably fine. Many of us think he's a lucky little b@stard to have scored with a hot teacher. Many of us think "How would I have reacted had that happened to MY son, by a person in a position of trust and authority?" However, I have to wonder if the forgotten victim here isn't the justice system.