TAMPA, Fla. - A former Tampa middle school teacher accused of having sex with students has pleaded guilty.
Stephanie Ragusa avoided a series of trials Monday by pleading to three counts of lewd and lascivious battery and two counts of unlawful sex with a minor. The 31-year-old also won a guarantee she wouldn't receive more than 10 years in prison. Ragusa also faces up to 10 years of probation.
The charges stemmed from separate, repeated sexual encounters with a 14-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy. Both were students at Tampa's Davidsen Middle School, where Ragusa taught. She and the younger boy met when Ragusa broke her foot and he was assigned to help her get around the school.
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