It was before 10 a.m. June 21, and the Greco Middle School teacher was driving to the home of a former student, a 14-year-old boy.

Lafave "stated that she was almost there and asked if everything was clear," according to information gleaned by Temple Terrace police during a series of recorded phone calls.

It was the second time the teacher and the teen spoke that morning. He had called Lafave earlier to see what time she was coming over.

"Debra Beasley Lafave asked ... if he was sure that he wanted to get together because they were almost caught last time," records show.

The teen reassured her that he wanted to see her.

When she arrived, Temple Terrace police were waiting. Lafave, 23, of Riverview, was arrested and charged with committing lewd or lascivious battery on a person younger than 16.

With those charges, she joined a roster of women much discussed but little understood: female teachers accused of sexual abuse.

Police say the popular reading teacher committed sex acts with the teen on five occasions since June 3, including at her Riverview town house, in a portable classroom at Greco Middle School, and while driving on Interstate 75 between Tampa and Ocala. She also faces similar charges in Marion County.

Today — her first wedding anniversary — Lafave is scheduled to be arraigned in Ocala on the Marion County charges. Her attorney, John Fitzgibbons of Tampa, faxed the court a plea of not guilty. Neither he nor Lafave plans to appear. Hillsborough authorities filed formal charges Thursday; arraignment is pending.

Lafave has been suspended without pay from the school. If convicted, she could face 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine on each of the five counts.

"It has been a terribly difficult time for Debbie and her family," said Fitzgibbons, who declined to discuss details of her defense. Lafave and her husband, Owen Lafave, 26, a loan officer, do not want to talk to the media, their attorney said.

"They, as well as my office, have been inundated with over a hundred calls from every media outlet in the country and around the world," Fitzgibbons said.

"She could not leave the house without a camera following her. The lack of privacy has been overwhelming."

Public Discussion

The case of the pretty teacher and good-looking student struck a public nerve, quickly becoming a hot topic on the Internet and airwaves. Lafave's wedding photos are posted on local radio station Web sites, individual Web logs and national celebrity sites, such as AmIAnnoying.com, where the heading read "Alleged Pedophile/Teacher."

Public reaction spans the gamut from disgust to tacit approval. At the center of the debate is the question: Is consensual sex between a woman and a teenage male sexual abuse or a schoolboy fantasy? Opinions vary, even among the experts.

Author Judith Levin argued in her controversial book, "Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex," that sexual activity is not necessarily harmful to children.

"Sex is not ipso facto harmful to minors; and America's drive to protect kids from sex is protecting them from nothing. Instead, often it is harming them," Levin writes.

Some people believe there is a difference in how boys and girls perceive sex.

"If a male teacher has sex with a female student, it's a big deal; he used her. He abused his authority," wrote Jourdan Marcel of Boynton Beach in a letter to The Tampa Tribune published July 3.

"But for guys — sure, he could have his heart broken, but that's about it. Women need to understand this: Men can have sex as adolescents and not be emotionally scarred. There's no crime here."

Nevertheless, Florida's laws regarding lewd or lascivious acts with a person under 16 are not gender-specific.

Many experts say that boys who have sex with older women experience the same types of problems as girls, such as depression, anxiety disorders and a mistrust of authority.

"There are studies that show that many men who had sex with older women when they were adolescents — and said they were fine — showed an impact later in life," says Anna Salter, a Madison, Wis., psychologist who writes and lectures about female sexual offenders.

"They were less trusting and had less sexual confidence," Salter says. "It did impact them, even though they tried to tell themselves it didn't."

An double standard makes it difficult to detect and prosecute female sexual offenders, Salter says.

"The same kind of evidence that will convict a man, I don't think would be sufficient to convict a woman," Salter says. "It's very hard to prove. Juries just don't want to believe it."

Salter divides female sexual offenders into three main categories:

Women who are coerced by males into sex acts with children.

Mothers who sexually abuse their biological children from a very young age.

The teacher/lover, typified by former Seattle teacher Mary Kay Letourneau, in prison since 1998 for a sexual relationship with a sixth-grade student that produced two children.

Women in the teacher/lover group are typically nonviolent but have a skewed vision of their actions, Salter said.

"They romanticize it; they idealize it. They turn it into something that looks very different than what it is."

Women in the teacher/lover group tend to be popular teachers in their mid-30s who target children about half their age.

When asked to explain their actions, "they say they just fell in love," she said.

"It doesn't seem to them as child abuse. They often feel the kids initiated it, but if you heard these stories you wouldn't think the kids initiated it."

The attraction can lead to obsession, as in the Letourneau case, Salter said.

"These women will abandon their husband and children for their obsession."

Number Of Cases Unknown

In the Lafave case, the teen admitted to his mother that he had sex with the teacher. She contacted authorities, who set up the recorded phone calls.

During one of the calls, Lafave "states to ... that she told her husband about the trip to Ocala, Florida and told ... that she did not tell her husband the real reason for the trip," police records show.

In another call, the teen asked Lafave if they should use a condom "next time." She told him he "was being weird and he did not need to worry," records show.

While most experts agree that the percentage of female sexual offenders is low, no one is sure how often female educators become sexually involved with their students.

A synthesis of studies by Hofstra University professor Charol Shakeshaft suggests it may be more common than believed. She cites research that recorded the percentage of students who said they were a target of a teacher's sexual misconduct.

"Of those, about 40 percent say that the offenders are female," writes Shakeshaft in an e-mail interview. "This is very different than the percentages that come up if we look at official reports, police records, etc. Those numbers would be about 3 percent female."

According to police reports, Lafave took the teen on outings, visited him out of town, drove him to basketball games and to get a haircut.

This type of activity should be a warning sign for parents, says Leo Cotter, director of the Tampa-based nonprofit, SHARE (Sexual Health through Awareness, Rehabilitation and Education.)

"Parents need to be very careful and look for the red flags. If someone in authority seems to be overly friendly with a student, a parent should call the principal. That way the principal can start asking questions and determine if any unacceptable behavior is happening."

Reporter Michele Sager contributed to this report. Reporter Karla Jackson can be reached at (813) 259-7606.