Biography of Debra Jean Beasley

Debra Lafave

Debra Lafave, who also is known as Debra Jean Beasley, was former school teacher at Angelo L Greco Middle School, which is located in Temple Terrace, Florida. She made headline news when she crossed the line of teacher to sex offender after it came to light that she was having a sexual relationship with one of her students who was fourteen-years-old. At the time this occurred, Debra was twenty-four and married. She was charged with lewd or lascivious battery on a minor.

Now why would a teacher cross over from being a role model to being a sex offender? That may be something we will never really know. Lafave, was this beautiful blond who had a somewhat troubled childhood, she claimed that she was raped at age thirteen by an older boy. Then her older sister was killed in an accident caused by a drunk driver. She also was diagnosed as suffering from a bi-polar disorder.

What type of sex offender is Debra Lafave? She shows signs of falling into several different forms of subtypes. She shows some signs of being a fixated predator, a regressed predator as well as what is called Approach-Automatic. A course this is based on the different reading I have done about her on the internet. She does not meet every criteria for these, however; she does have some of the signs. Her former husband "indicated that Lafave cultivated the relationship for several weeks until she finally had a chance to get her target alone. Experts on sexual predators refer to this as "grooming:" The adult finds ways to break down the child's resistance and engage him or her in their scheme". (Ramsland, 2014) A fixated predator will often groom their victims. (Section 4: Subtypes and Typologies , 2014)

Yet she also shows signs of Regressed behavior. S...

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... their victim, or victims. Both seemed to have a problematic childhood which could have affected them mentally to the point that they would seek pleasure improperly. Debra was never violent, while John was the opposite. There are a lot of differences between them, yet the both were guilty of being a sex offender. Lastly, not all sex offender will fit perfectly into each category. It is possible for them to have characteristics of several categories or subcategories.

Works Cited

John Wayne Gacy-Biography. (2014). Retrieved from IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0300475/bio

Ramsland, K. (2014). Anyone She Wanted: The Sexual Offense of Debra Lafave. Retrieved from Crime Library: http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/sexual_assault/debra_lafave/3.html

Section 4: Subtypes and Typologies . (2014). Retrieved from CSOM: http://www.csom.org/train/etiology/4/4_1.htm