A former Florida middle school teacher accused of having sex with her 14-year-old sex and supplying the teen with marijuana was released from jail on Thursday night after having her bond amount reduced by half – as it emerged that she is divorcing her husband.
Stephanie Peterson Ferri, 26, was led into a Daytona Beach courtroom dressed in an orange jail garb and with handcuffs restraining her wrists for her initial court appearance.
Ferri appeared somber and pale during the brief hearing, and at times used her long black hair to shield her bare face from the news cameras in the courtroom.
Cuffed: Former Florida middle school teacher Stephanie Peterson Ferri, 26, made her initial court appearance on Thursday, a day after she was arrested for allegedly having sex with her 14-year-old student
Somber: Her defense lawyer asked the judge to release Ferri from jail on her own recognizance
Not a happy camper: Her bond amount was reduced from $25,000 to $12,500, and Ferri was barred from contacting the alleged victim and his family
Her defense lawyer asked the judge to release his client from jail on her own recognizance, arguing that she poses no threat to the public, has no prior criminal history and is not a flight risk, reported WKMG.
The prosecution asked the judge to keep the bond amount unchanged, given the ‘egregious’ nature of the crime and the victim’s young age, according to Ocala.com.
In the end, County Judge Bryan Feigenbaum agreed to lower the bond amount form $25,000 to $12,500. He also barred Ferri from having contact with the victim and his parents, or anyone under the age of 18 who is not related to her.
Under the conditions of her release, the 26-year-old who stands accused, among other things, of sending nude photos of herself to her former student, is prohibited from using the Internet to post selfies online, and she also must take unspecified medications that have been prescribed to her.
Split Two weeks before her arrest, Ferri filed for divorce from her husband of two years, DeLand, Florida, firefighter Brandon Ferri (left)
Ferri, who stands accused, among other things, of sending nude photos of herself to her former student, is prohibited from using the Internet to post selfies like this one online
Ferri posted the bond amount a short time after Thursday’s court appearance and walked out of Volusia County Jail at around 5pm.
Also on Thursday, it was revealed that about two weeks before she was arrested for allegedly having sex with her underage student, Ferri filed paperwork seeking to divorce her husband of two years, DeLand firefighter Brandon Ferri.
Peterson Ferri was arrested in Wednesday morning in New Smyrna, Florida after the alleged victim confided in his parents about his suspected relationship with the New Smyrna Beach Middle School science teacher.
The eighth-grader told them that Ferri picked him up occasionally from their home at 11pm and often spent hours with him at her home while her firefighters husband was at work.
He also said that she sent him nude photographs of herself and that she had bought him marijuana and a ‘bowl to smoke it’.
The boy is said to have told his parents that the relationship made his grades suffer.
Ferri was booked into the county jail on charges of lewd or lascivious battery and transmitting harmful materials to a child.
Volusia County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest on Facebook.
Its investigators alleged that the relationship between Ferri and the boy began in November 2017.
The teenage boy told his parents the teacher told him not to speak about their relationship to anyone
She resigned from her job at the New Smyrna school on Monday.
According to the boy, Peterson told him he could not tell anyone about their relationship when she they were together alone.
Peterson and her soon-to-be ex-husband Brandon Ferri have been married since 2015 and do not have any children.
They both deleted their social media profiles as news of her arrest emerged.