A better example of sex-offense plea deal gender disparity?

I noted here earlier this week a report about a federal sex offense case in which prosecutors allowed a defendant to plead guilty in a way that enabled her to avoid being subject to a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence.  I speculated that one reason this plea deal was accepted might have been because the victim was male and the defendant was female, rather than vice-versa. 

In part because my gender-based speculation generated lots of interesting comments, here is another gender-bending story worthy of debate.  This story, as reported in the Orlando Sentinel and headlined “Teacher accused of having sex with 14-year-old student avoids jail,” comes from state court:

A former middle school teacher accused of having sex with a 14-year-old student in her car pleaded no contest to a reduced charge today and was sentenced to five years probation. Jennifer Tarkenton, who has since gotten married and goes by Jennifer Nero, was arrested Nov. 30, shortly after she and the student were discovered in her Ford Focus on a deserted stretch of road near Lake Mary.

A neighbor had called authorities, saying a suspicious vehicle was parked on the road. When a Seminole County deputy arrived, the vehicle was rocking and the windows were fogged up, according to court records. The boy told deputies that he and his teacher had just had sex.  He was still wearing a condom, according to court records. Tarkenton also admitted that they had just had sex.

She was charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious battery.  Today, after plea negotiations, she pleaded no contest to one count of felony battery. That means she will not have a record as a sex offender.

Tarkenton was a special education teacher at Greenwood Lakes Middle School at the time. She resigned immediately. Today, as part of her plea, she agreed to give up her teaching certificate for life. She also agreed not to live within 500 feet of a school or park, to complete a sex offender treatment program and to stay away from anyone under the age of 18, except for her son.

The story goes on to say that the prosecutors agreed to the deal because of concerns about a threatened suppression motion.  But, again I wonder, would this kind of plea deal been as likely if the middle-school teacher was a male having consensual sex with a 14-year-old female student?