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Bail Hearing Postponed Again In Teacher-Student Sex Case

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Stephanie Ragusa was arrested for a third time on Monday.

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By THOMAS W.  KRAUSE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 2, 2008

Updated: 05/02/2008 10:56 am

TAMPA - A hearing regarding bail for Stephanie Ragusa, a teacher accused of having sex with two underage students, was put off indefinitely today.

She will remain behind bars until further notice.

On Monday, Ragusa, 29, was accused by sheriff's deputies of having sex with a 16-year-old student while out on bail for charges that she had sex with the same teen. She also faces charges that she had sex with a 14-year-old student in 2007.

Circuit Judge J. Rogers Padgett postponed an emergency bail hearing Tuesday to give Ragusa's attorney enough time to prepare.

Today, Robert Herce again asked to postpone the hearing.

"It has become obvious and apparent to me that we are going to need more time in order to have a meaningful hearing before the court," Herce said.

A new date was not set.

Outside the courthouse, Herce said Ragusa is being held without bail for her third arrest and that prosecutors have asked the judge to revoke bail for her first two.

"We are at a disadvantage in not knowing a lot about the third case," he said. "As more information comes out, we will address this issue again."

He declined to comment on Ragusa's state of mind, other than to say she wants to go home.

Ragusa has been jailed since her arrest Monday, the third arrest in six weeks in connection with the allegations. The most recent charges were levied when 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 violated two terms of her release: She contacted the victim, and she was arrested on a new charge, Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi said.

TBO.com isn't naming the students to avoid identifying a possible sex crime victim.

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

Herce has filed a request to withhold court materials from the media and public, including a recorded conversation between Ragusa and the first teenager. The student recorded the conversation at law enforcement's request.

Typically, these materials are public records.

In his request, Herce writes that the recorded conversation amounts to a confession. Confessions typically are exempted from public disclosure. The significant media coverage of this case could make a fair trial difficult to achieve, Herce said.

"We believe some of that information should be withheld at this point," he said. "It would be very prejudicial to release that now because of the saturation we're seeing."

A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Wednesday.

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

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