TAMPA, Fla. _ Stephanie Ragusa, the former Davidson Middle School teacher who spent six years in prison after she admitted she had sex with two students, is back in jail after violating a term of her probation, records show.
Ragusa, 39, of Clearwater was arrested Thursday after admitting to her probation officer that she had contact with a 12-year-old girl at the Hooters restaurant on Clearwater Beach on June 30, according to a probation violation report. The girl is the daughter of Ragusa's girlfriend and the three of them posed for a photo together, the report says.
Ragusa told the probation officers that she was caught up in the moment and forgot that she isn't allowed to have contact with minors without approval from the court, the report says. She said she distanced herself from the girl as soon as she remembered.
The probation officer requested a warrant for Ragusa's arrest and recommended that she be placed on two years of community control supervision if found guilty of the violation, the report says. The program, known as house arrest, requires offenders to stay home unless they are working, attending school, performing public service hours, or participating in treatment or another special activity approved in advance by a supervising officer.
"If the Court believes the offender is not amenable to community supervision, the recommendation would be to revoke her probation and (that) she be sentenced accordingly to state prison," the officer wrote.
Ragusa was being held in the Hillsborough County jail without bail.
Ragusa taught special education at the time of her crimes. One student, then 14 years old, pushed Ragusa's wheelchair around school after she broke her foot. She told him she could help him overcome his shyness. Then, she brought him to her apartment where the two had sex on three occasions.
Ragusa had sex with another boy, then 16, 20 times even after she had been arrested and told to stay away from him. She told him she loved him over text messages.
She was convicted in 2010, sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by 15 years of probation, and released in 2016.
Ragusa most recently worked as a delivery driver for an auto parts store but is now taking classes full time to get a master of business administration, the violation report says. She does not have any prior probation violations.
