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After 3 Arrests, Teacher Should Be Denied Bail, Prosecutors Say

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By THOMAS W. KRAUSE and JOSH POLTILOVE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 30, 2008

TAMPA - Prosecutors are trying to keep teacher Stephanie Ragusa behind bars until she stands trial on charges including unlawful sexual activity with minors.

Ragusa, 29, appeared in court Tuesday morning for a hearing on whether she should be released on bail. The hearing was delayed until Friday so her attorney can prepare.

She was arrested Monday for the third time in six weeks in connection with allegations she had sex with two high school boys. This time, a sheriff's detective spotted her coming out of a student's house and learned they had just had sex again, according to an arrest report.

Ragusa, out on bail at the time of the Monday incident, violated two terms of her release: She contacted the victim and she was arrested on a new charge, said Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi.

"Even just speaking to him would cause a violation," Bondi said.

If Ragusa is denied bail, she might be looking at months in jail before trial. Similar cases in Hillsborough County took up to two years before charges were resolved.

Investigators said Ragusa continued having sex with a student from the time she first was arrested March 13 until she was arrested at his house Monday. The student now is 16.

In court documents, Hillsborough County sheriff's investigators gave this account of the events leading up to the Monday arrest:

The student contacted a sheriff's detective April 16 to say he and Ragusa were staying in touch through text messages and had had sex as recently as the night of April 5.

A 17-year-old male friend of the student was with them that night and told investigators Ragusa had called the two of them by phone, asking that they pick her up at a Circle K convenience store at Ehrlich and Hutchison roads in Tampa.

The friend, who drove them there in his sport utility vehicle, said Ragusa appeared to be drunk.

Ragusa and the student were in the back seat while the friend drove. The friend said he saw them kissing and saw Ragusa with her hand down the front of the student's pants.

The friend drove to the student's house. Ragusa and the student went to his room and had sex while the friend was in the living room, the 17-year-old told investigators.

The student provided investigators love notes and gifts he said he received from Ragusa "as well as a last will and testament which was handwritten and signed by the defendant," according to the documents.

Ragusa was arrested a second time April 15 and a third time about 1 p.m. Monday after sheriff's Detective Travis Valles saw her walking out of the student's house.

After Ragusa noticed the investigator's vehicle parked outside, she ran to the student's front door. Valles ordered her not to go inside.

The teen later told the investigator that Ragusa had come to his home about noon and started talking about the criminal case and that he and Ragusa later went to his bedroom.

The friend of the student was with them again Monday. The friend said Ragusa and the student walked to a bedroom and he heard sounds that led him to think they were having sex.

He told investigators he saw Ragusa and the student kissing after they returned from the bedroom and he recorded it on his cell phone. Investigators have the cell phone video.

The friend's stepfather, in an interview at the family's home Tuesday morning, said he would have no comment on the case. The man said he was upset that his stepson was identified in court documents and has complained to the state attorney's office.

Valles came to the teenager's home Monday to speak to him as part of a follow-up investigation, and Valles just happened to see Ragusa there, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.

The Tribune isn't naming the student or his friend to avoid identifying a possible sex crime victim.

Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813) 259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com. Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691 or jpoltilove@tampatrib.com.

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