TAMPA – A Hillsborough County middle school teacher has been arrested and is charged with having sex with a 14-year-old student.
Deputies arrested 28-year-old Stephanie Ragusa around 5 p.m. Thursday.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Ragusa had a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy at Davidsen Middle School from October of 2006 to May of 2007.
Detectives said the victim was never actually a student of Ragusa's; he was a student at Davidsen Middle School while she taught there.
She is currently a 7th grade math teacher at Martinez Middle School in Tampa.
The school got a tip, and detectives interviewed the boy. They say they got enough information to move forward with an arrest.
Ragusa was booked into the Orient Road Jail Thursday night.
Parents reacted to the news with shock and anger.
"It's hard enough as a student to be in the classroom and learn what the education standards are today, let alone whether a teacher sis pursuing a student," said parent Christine Baer.
A school district spokesman called the allegations disappointing.
"When we hear of allegations like this, we turn it over immediately, because it is a criminal matter for law enforcement, it is not just a school matter," said Hillsborough Schools spokesman Steve Hegarty.
Ragusa is charged with five counts of lewd and lascivious battery.
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