TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Details Of Accusations Against Teacher Revealed

ADVERTISEMENT

By MIKE WELLS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 3, 2008

Sharing an elevator ride at Davidsen Middle School with a 14-year-old student, teacher Stephanie Ragusa told the boy he was shy and she could break him of that, an affidavit states.

Stephanie Ragusa

That bit of flirting led to late night phone chats, secret meetings and to them having sex three times between January and May 2007, investigators said in a search warrant affidavit filed last month by a Hillsborough County sheriff's detective.

The affidavit says Ragusa had sex with the boy when the he was supposed to be at school, while his parents were sleeping and when he was supposed to be at an eighth grade dance.

The boy told investigators that during the elevator conversation he agreed to go to her apartment instead of him staying on campus for an after-school program.

At the apartment, Ragusa performed oral sex on the boy and they had intercourse, the affidavit said. She took him back to the school in time for the teen to be picked up by a parent.

Over the next several weeks, Ragusa called the boy on his cell phone, the affidavit said. During a conversation when his parents were sleeping, they agreed he would sneak out and she would pick him up around the corner from his home.

In the back seat of her silver Lexus sport utility vehicle, Ragusa again performed oral sex on him and they had intercourse, the affidavit said.

The last time they met privately, Ragusa took the teen to a party and drove him to Gant Road, where they had sex in her Lexus, the affidavit said.

Ragusa co-taught one of the boy's classes, according to school district spokeswoman Linda Cobbe.

She started working for the school district in 2006 at Madison Middle School in South Tampa, district officials said. She voluntarily transferred midyear to Davidsen in Westchase. Most recently, Ragusa was a math teacher at Martinez Middle School in Lutz.

The boy, now 15, is not being identified by authorities because he is considered a victim of a sex crime.

Detectives monitored a phone call between the student and Ragusa in which she acknowledged having sex with him, the sheriff's office said.

She was arrested March 13 on five counts of lewd and lascivious battery. Court records show that on March 28, prosecutors did not file information on two of those charges.

The sheriff's office has said it continues to look for additional victims.

Reporter Mike Wells can be reached at (813) 259-7839 or mwells@tampatrib.com.

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT