Kaitlyn Hunt Rejects Florida State Attorney's Plea Offer

SEBASTIAN, Florida -- A Sebastian River High School Senior, 18-year-old Kaitlyn "Kate" Hunt, who was arrested for having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old Sophomore who attended the same school, has rejected a plea deal made by a Florida State attorney which would have labeled Hunt a sex offender.

According to Kate's mother, who has created an online petition to ask the State Attorney to drop the charges, "The two girls began dating while Kaitlyn was 17 but her girlfriend’s parents blamed Kailtyn for their daughter’s homosexuality.  They waited until after Kaitlyn turned 18 and went to the police to have charges brought against her."


However, the arrest affidavit alleges that Hunt began the relationship with the 14-year-old girl in November 2012 and that the two engaged in sexual activity before Christmas 2012 through January 2013 when the girl ran away from home.  Kaitlyn turned 18 on August 14, 2012.

Kate's mother goes into greater detail of her side of the story on a "Free Kate" Facebook group:

"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... 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...

On Saturday February 16th, our family's world was shattered and our daughter's nightmare began. The police came to our home and arrested my daughter, put her in hand cuffs and we had no idea why.  They refused to tell us anything at first because she had turned 18.  Kate was ripped out of our arms, terrified, crying hysterically.  My younger daughter was there at the time, my husband and myself, we were mortified. They finally told us she was being arrested on “probable cause.”  I asked them probable cause of what, they said sexual battery on a person 12-16 years old.  My heart dropped, I knew then that it had to have been her girlfriend's parents. These people never came to us as parents, never tried to speak to us, didn’t try to get the school involved to speak to us and tell us they had a problem with the girls dating, not one single word. Instead, they set out their vengeance and had my child arrested on FELONY charges. The nightmare continued. Kate was bailed out and sat in front of a Judge. He told her she could continue going to school, but was to have no contact with her girlfriend.  I went to the school and spoke to them, let them know what was going on, I wanted to make sure there was no issues or problems.

It is Kate's senior year, she only had a few months until graduation and we wanted her to finish. The school was very supportive, they all know and loved Kate.  They told us that the other girls parents had already come in and wanted Kate to be expelled, they told them no, they wouldn’t do that. The parents didn’t like that, so that petitioned the court and asked the judge to remove Kate from school, even though the Judge already ruled Kate could continue school.  We sat in front of the Judge again, and the judge ruled yet again that Kate could continue going to school, he didn’t feel like Kate was any threat at all. Those parents wouldn’t give up.  They were out to destroy my daughter, they feel like my daughter “made” their daughter gay. They are bigoted, religious zeolites that see being gay as a sin and wrong, and they blame my daughter. Of course I see it 100% different. I don’t see or label these girls as gay. They are teenagers in high school experimenting with their sexuality, all teens do it in one form or another.  They are teens, its healthy and normal. And even if their daughter is gay, who cares, she is still their daughter." 

After the increased media attention and stories on the internet, the underage girl's parents gave their side of the story in an exclusive interview to South Florida CBS affiliate WPEC which can be seen in the video below.


PHOTO CREDIT: Facebook