Woman Gets 4 Years for Rape of Boy

(Joplin, Missouri) Last month, a jury convicted 35-year-old Marcie L. Schaeffer of second-degree statutory rape for having sexual relations with a 16-year-old boy in December 2004. Yesterday, Jasper County Circuit Court Judge William Crawford sentenced her to four years in prison and fined her $5,000. Notably, it took the jury less than an hour to convict Schaeffer and recommend the four-year sentence.

Interestingly, teacher Debra Lafave had repeated sexual relations with a 14-year-old boy who was her student and she got a sentence of no jail in the state of Florida. Apparently, sex crimes involving children in Florida are not as serious as similar crimes in Missouri.