Former Pasco substitute teacher pleads guilty in sex case

NEW PORT RICHEY -- Lisa Marinelli, a former Pasco County substitute teacher accused last year of having a sexual relationship with a student, pleaded guilty in court this morning.

She faced up to 15 years in prison but avoided any time behind bars. Instead, prosecutors and her defense attorney agreed to a stringent probationary sentence that includes a year of house arrest and no contact with children under 18 without supervision.

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

Lisa Marinelli, 41, center, a former Pasco County substitute teacher accused last year of having a sexual relationship with a student, pleaded guilty in court this morning. [BRENDAN FITTERER | Times]

Marinelli, now 41, fell under suspicion in February 2008 when the victim's father reported to the Sheriff's Office that he saw his son get out of Marinelli's car pulling his pants up. They were in the back seat.

The boy, who was 16 then, told detectives he and Marinelli had been seeing each other for about two months.

According to the Sheriff's Office, the relationship started out innocently. Marinelli was looking for a boyfriend for her daughter, then a 15-year-old student at Mitchell High School in Trinity.

After Marinelli told the boy he was "on the list" of potential suitors, the two began spending time with each other.

He was invited to her home on multiple occasions. At one point, according to an affidavit, they drove to a location in the nearby Longleaf subdivision and made out. During this encounter, Marinelli said several times, "This is bad" and that she should not be doing it, a sheriff's report says.

After that, the pair saw each other regularly. Sometime in early January, authorities say, Marinelli and the student had sex at her home. Authorities say the two had sex about 10 more times after that.

The boy's father turned over records of hundreds of cell phone calls and text messages between Marinelli and the boy to investigators. In one from Marinelli to the boy, she wrote "U can meet me at home at 3. Real men only need 20 min!"

Another, according to the Sheriff's Office, said "How about a quickie 2 tomorrow afternoon?"

Before her arrest March 24 last year, Marinelli had attended two days of substitute training and worked 113 days as a substitute, mostly at Mitchell High but also a few days at Seven Springs Middle.

Her background check turned up no criminal record. Once the school district learned that the Sheriff's Office was investigating Marinelli, it removed her from its substitute list.

Neither she nor the victim, whose name is being withheld, spoke after the hearing.

Prosecutor Eva Vergos said the state agreed to keep Marinelli out of prison to spare the victim, now 18, going through a trial.

"He wasn't deposed," Vergos said. "He wasn't required to be present for all the things that are usually required. Sometimes that's the goal."

Kevin Piccarreto, Marinelli's attorney, said she is relieved to put the case behind her.

"She felt her family couldn't take any more of this," he said.

Molly Moorhead, Times staff writer