Florida Teacher Gets No Jail in Sex Case - Updated

(New Port Richey, Florida) Former Pasco County substitute teacher, Lisa Robyn Marinelli, pleaded guilty this morning to a charge of unlawful sex with a minor and was sentenced.

Although she faced a possible 15 years in prison, Marinelli received only one year of house arrest and four years of probation.

The married mother of two will have to register as a sex offender, undergo testing for sexually transmitted diseases and complete sex offender treatment.

Marinelli was also instructed to have no contact with children under 18 without supervision.

According to prosecuting attorney Eva Vergos, Marinelli was spared prison to avoid having the victim testify in court.


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Florida Teacher Accused of Sex with Male Student
[Previous 3/24/08 post]
(New Port Richey, Florida) A 40-year-old substitute teacher for Tampa Bay area schools, Lisa Robyn Marinelli, was arrested today for allegedly engaging in sex with a 17-year-old male student. She was charged with unlawful sex with a minor.

Police were alerted to the alleged relationship after the boy's father saw his son exiting Marinelli's car while pulling his pants up. Also, according to Pasco County Sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll, Marinelli gave the boy a pair of her underwear as a memento.

Communication between Marinelli and the boy began in January, when the boy was 16, records state. It was unclear how Marinelli met the boy.

"The victim's father provided documents of hundreds of cell phone calls, and there were about 35 text messages still on the victim's cell phone," Doll said. "One of the messages asks, 'How about a quickie 2morrow afternoon?'

"Other messages invite the victim to her home 'because real men only need 20 minutes,'" he said.

The boy showed investigators several locations where he said he had sex with Marinelli in her vehicle, Doll said. Under Florida law, a 17-year-old cannot consent to sex with a person 24 and older.

The boy told investigators that he had sex with Marinelli 10 times between Jan. 12 and Feb. 27, an affidavit stated.

Marinelli was booked into custody at the Land O' Lakes Jail with bail set at $20,000.