Sebastian, Fla. – When social media exploded last month with cries to “Free Kate,” thousand of people answered the call to carry the torch for the LGBT community in a case that seemed to be about discrimination.
Kaitlyn Hunt, an 18-year old senior at Sebastian High School, was arrested for having sex with her 14-year-old girlfriend after their gay romance blossomed when they were teammates on the school basketball team.
But as details of the police investigation have emerged, that fire has turned to an ember.
Hunt’s troubles began in February when the parents of the 14-year-old girl, James and Laurie Smith, called police. Hunt was arrested and later charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a child 12-16 years of age. She was expelled from school.
Her father, Stephen Hunt, cried foul accusing the Smiths, police and prosecutors of targeting his daughter because she is gay. He took to the internet and Facebook.
In a Change.org petition calling for State Attorney Bruce Colton to drop the charges. The elder Hunt and others misstated the girls’ ages, stating the younger girl was 15 and Hunt was 17 when the relationship began. It was reported that the Smiths waited until Hunt turned 18 before calling police and trapped her with a taped telephone call. School officials were accused of throwing Hunt out of school because she is a lesbian.
The furor was immediate and social media was ablaze. Erroneous details were reported over and over. More than 100,000 people signed the “Free Kate Hunt” petition.
State Attorney Bruce Colton responded by clarifying the facts of the case. Hunt turned 18 in August. The Smith’s daughter didn’t turn 15 until after Hunt’s arrest. In Florida, Hunt is considered an adult and her girlfriend, a minor. Sex between the two is illegal.
In addition, Indian River School Superintendant Dr. Fran Adams, while not releasing confidential details of the school investigation, said the Indian River School Board expelled Hunt for violating the Student Code of Conduct, not because she is gay.
Indian River Sheriff’s officials released Hunt’s arrest affidavit, which contained intimate details of the romance, including sex in a school bathroom and an encounter at Hunt’s home. When asked if Hunt knew it was wrong to have sex with a 14-year old, Hunt allegedly told a detective that she thought the girl acted older.
Rather than publicly defend her client, Hunt’s criminal defense attorney Julia Graves was silent on the matter. Florida law is clear that a 14-year-old is a minor and cannot consent to sexual relations with an 18-year old adult, in high school or not.
The Smiths have publicly denied reporting Hunt to authorities because of her sexual orientation. They said they warned Hunt to stay away from their daughter twice before reporting her. After their daughter defied their request and ran away from home to be with Hunt, they said they had no choice but to call police.
Last month, Hunt turned down a plea offer from the state, which would have reduced her charges from lewd and lascivious battery on a child to child abuse. Hunt was offered two years of community control in exchange for pleading guilty.
Given Hunt’s clean record and the facts of the case, the state attorney said he would not have opposed a request to have the judge withhold a formal finding of guilt. Hunt could also have petitioned the judge under the “Romeo and Juliet Law,” a relatively new statute that differentiates between cases involving a teen romance and an adult molesting a child. If a judge agreed, Hunt would not have had to register as a sex offender.
But those options no longer exist. Hunt has chosen to let a jury decide her fate. If convicted, she faces 5-15 years in prison. Her trial is set for late June, though her attorney has asked for an extension to have time to prepare her case.
A close examination of the contradictory details in recent weeks has led a number of organizations to stay out of the fray, including the ACLU of Florida and Parents, Families, Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). In a statement released in late May, the ACLU condemned a law that would treat a high school romance as predatory.
Its statement read in part: “The school-to-prison pipeline is filled with students whose behavior is better addressed by school officials and parents, not by a criminal justice system that turns ordinary teenagers into convicted felons who are prevented from meaningfully contributing to society because of their unjust convictions.”
The ACLU encouraged State Attorney Colton to use discretion in a case that criminalizes the romance. The only mention of sexual orientation comes in a comment about the school to prison pipeline the ACLU has been working hard to address.
“This is a life sentence for behavior by teenagers that is all too common, whether they are male or female, gay or straight. High-school relationships may be fleeting, but felony convictions are not,” the statement read.
David McKinnon, of the Vero Beach PFLAG chapter, said in a statement it sees no evidence of discrimination. After reviewing the case and the law, McKinnon said it appeared the Hunt was being treated like heterosexual couples in the same situation.
“The cry of discrimination, unless more facts come out, does not seem to apply here. Some very simple research yields cases where heterosexual kids have been arrested and prosecuted under the same law,” McKinnon said. “Is that law unfair? That is something each of us must determine for ourselves, and if we feel that it is, then our State Legislators are the people to contact in order to try to have the law changed.”
