Tampa, Fla. ? In an effort to spare the victim from having to testify in court, state prosecutors decided Tuesday to drop charges against a former Tampa teacher accused of having sex with a 14-year-old middle school student.

The judge rejected the plea deal for Debra Lafave, but because the charges are dropped the teenager won’t have to testify. A psychiatrist testified that the boy was distraught because of media coverage and didn’t want to testify in court.

Assistant State Atty. Richard Ridgway, in explaining the decision to drop the charges, said: “The court may be willing to risk the well-being of the victims in this case in order to force it to trial. I am not.”

But the 25-year-old teacher may not escape all prison time. She faces three years of house arrest and seven years probation in another Florida county for having sex there with the same boy.