Kate Hunt Rejects Plea Deal To Drop Thinly-Veiled Same Sex Shaming Charges, Prosecutors Will Waste Taxpayer Money
In a bold and courageous move today, Kate Hunt rejects plea deal offered in response to the charges brought against her for dating a 14-year-old female schoolmate.
The other teen’s parents pressed charges to have Hunt arrested in February and she was eventually expelled from Sebastian River High School. But now the stakes are even higher — a conviction could come with a 15 year jail sentence. The plea deal would have meant two years of probation, but she has big plans to be a nurse and doesn’t want them jeopardized. So she’s standing up for herself and going to court.
This kick-ass teen has an equally kick-ass woman lawyer, Julia Graves, who explained the reason for not taking the deal in a kick-ass statement.
“Our client is a courageous teenager who is choosing not to accept the current plea offer by the state of Florida,” Graves said. “It’s a situation of two teenagers who happen to be of the same sex involved in a relationship. If this case involved a boy and a girl, we don’t believe there’d be the media attention to this case. Our client’s a model citizen. She’s been placed in an environment of school with her classmates where they go to school together, they have lunch together, play on the same team (and are) allowed to have communciation (sic) and contact without barriers. Then when something develops between the two of them as a result of this environment which is created by the state, it leads to criminal prosecution.”
BOOM! I love the way she is positioning this argument to challenge the position Kaitlyn has found herself in. This was a natural extension of their school environment and these girls were treated as equals in so many respects, which means the protection offered by statutory rape laws should not apply.
However, there is always the chance that the Florida courts – especially at the entry level – will feel pressured to rule solely based on the letter of the law and not on the circumstances that have made this case so high profile. The statute states clearly that “a child under 16 years of age cannot consent to sexual activity, regardless of the age of the defendant.” The court could say the act was illegal based on the age of her girlfriend alone since the law is gender blind.
However, such a ruling would be a huge disappointment in the court of public opinion. Kate’s case has drawn interest from feminists, students, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Mommyish readers who believe this is a thinly veiled attempt by the other teen’s parents and the Indian River County Sheriff’s office to break up and shame this same-sex couple. No trial date has been set, but we know the Florida court’s decision will make headlines everywhere when it is handed down — if this waste of taxpayer money case isn’t dropped before then.
(photo: Facebook)
