Kate Hunt – Honor Student And Star Athlete – Expelled And Facing Felony Charges Because Her Girlfriend Is Younger Than Her
This is every parent’s worst nightmare and although I’m sure you will all be as enraged as I am by the end of reading this, there are two excellent aspects of this horror story. One is that we can help, and I will post a link to a petition at the end of this article, and two is that Kaitlyn Hunt has parents who seem wonderful and supportive, and in a case like this, this poor girl sure as hell needs them.
Kate Hunt is facing felony charges and has been expelled from high school for engaging in a “mutually consensual” relationship with a girl who is three years younger than her. The girls were both players on Sebastian River’s high school basketball team in Palm Bay, Florida and according to a Facebook page set up to support Kate, both sets of parents were aware of the girl’s relationship.
Kate is an 18 year old senior about to graduate from SRHS. She has an exemplary record at school and home. She has always been a wonderful student, respected and well liked. She has cheered on the varsity cheer team all throughout high school, shes sung in chorus and was voted most school spirited. She has never been in trouble, ever, she truly is the model student and child. At the beginning of this school year, she started dating a fellow student, who happened to be another female. This girl also played varsity sports, was in the IB program, so she was in classes with upperclassman. There was an age difference between my daughter and the other girl, of 3 years, my daughter was older, however you would have thought it was the opposite by just looking at the girls. My daughter is tiny, looks very young, and the other girl looks much older and is much taller, either way there was a 3 year age gap. They were both students in the same high school, it was a mutual consenting relationship on both parts. This was unusual for Kate, she has always dated boys, but being the kind of mother I am, I didn’t want to make it a big deal. I talked to her about it, and figured it was just a social thing, times have changed and a lot of kids are experimenting, so I didn’t make much of it. This girl came to my home, hang out with our family before sporting events at the school, etc. The girls would hang out together at after school activities, I was there, I saw the other girls father there several times, he saw them together as well, so I assumed her family was aware of it and didn’t have any issues either. On Saturday February 16th our families world was shattered and our daughters nightmare begun.
On February 16th police came to the Hunt home and arrested Kaitlyn for sexual battery on a person aged 12-16, and she is being charged with “lewd and lascivious” battery on a child. She can face up to 15 years in prison, and she has to register as a sex offender. if Kate takes a plea deal, she will receive two years of house arrest and one year of probation. The other girl’s family petitioned the school in order to have Kate expelled, weeks before her graduation.
They are out to destroy my daughter, because they feel like she ”˜made’ their daughter gay. They see being gay as wrong and they blame my daughter. Of course, I see it 100% differently. I don’t see or label these girls as gay. They are teenagers in high school experimenting with their sexuality with mutual consent. And even if their daughter is gay, who cares? She is still their daughter.
I’m the first person who will be enraged when I feel like a child is being sexually exploited by an adult. I have written extensively on child predators and I think child abuse is a very serious crime, and those of you familiar with this know exactly how I feel about child sexual abuse. In this case, there is a three year age difference between two girls who had the same peer group and who started dating because they met at school. If it was an older boy who was dating a younger girl I seriously doubt this relationship would have been an issue. Now a young girl’s life is in danger of being destroyed because of bigotry. This isn’t sexual abuse. This isn’t a crime. This is a case of two teen girls who embarked on a relationship together who have a small age difference and who happen to be of the same gender. I’ll be following this story closely and keeping my fingers crossed that the charges are dropped. I can understand parents forbidding the girls to have contact, I can see it but I can’t understand it because I think there is enough hatred in this world and love is something that should be celebrated, but if the other girl’s parents don’t want her in this relationship that is there perogative. But to have Kate Hunt face criminal charges or a jail sentence because of this is absurd and horrific. I really hope the parents reconsider.
You can sign a petition for Kate here and there is now a website for Kate here.
(UPDATE: The Sheriff’s office has released Kate’s affidavit)
(Image: Facebook)