Florida High School Student Arrested And Expelled For Same Sex Relationship

[matthewf]

[djean111]

1. She broke a state law.

Under Florida law, no one younger than 16 can consent to sexual activity.
I sincerely doubt age entered the minds of either girl; I also feel that equally enraged parents would have pressed charges against a male student.
So - she has not been arrested and expelled, officially, for having a same-sex relationship; of course, a complaint was most likely filed because she is gay, but the headline and rant are a bit misleading.

[ebbie15644]

2. I agree!

I tell boys all the time if you are 18 you CANNOT have a relationship with someone younger than 16! It cannot be different for same sex relationships. This girl should have been better educated.

[Wernothelpless]

13. Florida's history makes their law a joke ...

I know teenage girls who were having sex, rampantly, in the 70's with men old enough to be their fathers ...

Hell, there were professors who considered it all part of the grading process ... And dats what I like about the south ...

[demwing]

28. "dats what I like about the south ..."

Really? Teachers having sex with their teenage students is what you like about the South?

I think I must have missed your point...

[Wernothelpless]

35. That was sarcasm ... something new for you apparently ...

Being SOUTHERN has meant (in bygone eras, before and since) that for the white men ANYTHING goes and women are expected to shut their mouth and stay in their place ... a double standard that this particular case highlighted for me ... now if you miss that point I can't help you ... An old wealthy landowning man can rape his children, his grandchildren, and his wives ... which is entirely permissible although the crime remains unspoken and unreported throughout ALL time ... but these two girls cannot have a consensual relationship without it being a crime ... "AND dats what I like about the SOUTH" .... Cheers! ... ...

[dembotoz]

3. underage remains underage for gay or straight

happened to a neighbors kid
straight relationship
even less of an age difference
believe he had just turned 18 she was
almost 17--

he is now a registered sex offender in the state of Wisconsin

the minute you turn 18 the rules change
important talk to have with you kid

not to excuse what this school is doing to her--that is evil

[Cronus Protagonist]

10. It's even worse in Nevada

A kid I know got federal charges for being 16 (age of consent in Nevada) and having his 12 year old girlfriend. When they were 15 and 11, it was OK, apparently, but as soon as they hit 16/12 the girl's momma went postal and the boy is now a sex offender.

So I don't buy the whole "persecuted for being gay" meme that's spreading around this story. I have no doubt that could have been the coach / girls' momma's reason for ratting them out, but as far as the law's concerned, it's not biased against gay people. The cops and the DA will screw any and all of your kids. Not just the gay ones.

[CincyDem]

4. They "dated" for several years...

...and younger girl's parents didn't approve because "our daughter isn't gay". Several days after older girl's 18th birthday, younger girl's mother complained to the police and this is the result.

Let's compare.

Several high school males, star football players as I recall, drag a 16 year old girl from party to party (taking pictures along the way), having their way with her. Community response..."boys will be boys", teachers/coaches/administrators/police come to their defense, "accuser" gets harassed and threatened.

Florida girl continues a long term relationship with a girl 2 years younger and the older girl turns 18 - gets expelled and arrested and the response is "well...she should have been smarter...it's justice."

Yeah - I'm sure this has nothing to do with homophobia...not a thing.

Do I really need the icon...yeah...better make sure so there's no confusion...

[dembotoz]

5. tend to agree with you but please remember the laws of florida gave the younger girls parents

a big stick and they used it.

straight or gay it was illegal in the eyes of florida

if they prosecute the girl they had damn well better prosecute the boys

[CincyDem]

6. My understanding is that the younger girl's parents withdrew their complaint.

Anyone know that to be true or not ?

[leftyohiolib]

9. it's illegal for adults to have sex with 14 year olds regardless of who did what to whom elsewhere

[CincyDem]

14. Opps - sorry...I missed the part of the story where they had "sex".

Who the heck knows what they were doing.

And you're right, it's illegal. Double Standard isn't about the law...it's about how the law is applied. The football players weren't expelled from school even after pictures started showing up. Here, she gets expelled and sent to an alternative school because someone wants to prove a point that "my daughter's not gay".

I can't be the only one that thinks it's crazy to believe nowhere in America is some 18 year old guy dating some 14 year girl and, independent of the letter of the law, eveyone is just looking the other way because "ya know, puppy love. And besides, they're good kids".

High school seniors dating high school freshman ??? Seriously? You don't think that happens every day ? Chaperoned any HS senior proms lately. I've done 3 in the past 5 years and I can assure you there were more than a few freshmen (both male and female) in the room. Did some of them "have sex" later...maybe, but I'm not hearing a public outcry throughout the land that any of those seniors have to be brought to justice. Maybe they should be because it's the law but where's the public support.

Should I be turning them in ? And if I did, would it generate this rush to action that seems to be part of this case. Would my comments that Jill and Bobby, one a freshman and one a senior, are "dating...would those comments be sufficient for the local cops to tap their phones to see what they're talking about? I doubt it.

Would the older of the two get arrested based on that transcript that "confirm[ed] their romantic involvement" because someone professed their love.

Heck no.

So regardless of who did what to whom elsewhere, if her date was a guy we wouldn't know her name.

[joeglow3]

19. Since you blasted someone for reading into the story, why do you do it?

The parents said it had NOTHING to do with her being gay. But, you get the luxury of reading into things?

[CincyDem]

23. Usually, when people say "it has NOTHING to do with______", it's because...

...it has EVERYTHING to do with ________.

Here's from her father's open letter to the community on FB.

[snip]
The girl's mother found out about the relationship, and, as the track coach and Criminal Justice teacher told me, the girl's mother said that there's no way her daughter could be gay. The mother then took reigns and is now attempting to place FELONY charges upon my own daughter.
[snip]
Thank you, everybody. We truly appreciate this.


I'm sure that the current public statements are that this had NOTHING to do with her being gay. The cold light of day has this great sanitizing effect on people. Heresay - yeah. So what.

Does he have a vested interest in making his claim. Sure.
Does she have a vested interest in making her denial. Sure.

But culturally in America, I'd put my money on her having a different story now versus her conversations with coaches and teachers.

BTW - If my 14 year old daughter was involved with someone that I didn't think was right - I'd be having conversations with that person's parents. I wouldn't start with demanding the school board expel him and filing a police report...unless of course I had another agenda I wanted to work too. Doesn't make them bad folks. Just midguided.

[shawn703]

25. But sometimes, when people say "it has NOTHING to do with_______", it's because...

Someone made an accusation that it had to do with __________ and the person being accused wants to correct the record?

[Drale]

26. The only evidence they seem to have against her

is a secretly taped conversation by the younger girls parents in which the two talked about kissing in the bathroom. I've never heard of any age male being expelled and arrested for kissing someone "underage". This is 100% about homophobic parents and a right wing prosecutor trying to make a name for himself with the tea baggers.

[joeglow3]

16. Looks like that is BS

They STARTED dating when she was 18:

http://cbs12.com/news/top-stories/stories/free-kate-new-bombshell-kaitlyn-hunt-teen-lesbian-affair-7523.shtml?wap=0

[joeglow3]

20. Both sets of parents dispute that claim

They both said they starting when she was 18.

[nomorenomore08]

24. People are being naive. Or disingenuous. Or both.

[cali]

36. no they did not. Kaitlyn Hunt and her parents have not been truthful

Here is the affadavit. In short, Kaitlyn was 18 and the younger girl was 14. They had not been dating for several years. They started dating in 2012 when Kaitlyn had been 18 for 2 months. They started having sex sometime before Christmas of 2012 when the younger girl was 14.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/05/21/us/hunt-arrest-affidavit.html?_r=0

[leftyohiolib]

7. arrested for sex with a minor - why are deliberatley misleading or did u mean to add "some say"

[L0oniX]

8. Either change the age to 19 or change high schools to 13-17.

High schools are mixing 18 yo adults with children. I know ...it will never happen. I'm just sayin that they are mixing kids together and then expecting them to not hook up. So its ok for 2 16 or 17 yo to hook up? So then why not just make it against the law for any teens to hookup?

...and now this girl has a mugshot getting indexed on Google ...even if the case gets dropped. I know this is another issue but for fucks sake look at what gets known about this girl with so little effort.

http://mugshots.com/US-Counties/Florida/Indian-River-County-FL/Kaitlyn-Ashley-Hunt.47264514.html

Kaitlyn Ashley Hunt
Mugshots.com ID: 47264514
Birth date: 8/14/1994
Full Address: 231 STONY POINT DR SEBASTIAN, FL 32958
Eye Color: Green
Gender: Female
Hair Color: Brown
Height: 5′ 1″ (1.55 m)
Occupations: Waitress
Language: English
Weight: 110 lb (50 kg)
Scars / Marks / Tattoos:
Type Description Location
Tattoo ( Bird ) Shoulder Right Tattoo
Tattoo ( Music ) Hip Left Tattoo
Tattoo ( Words ) PURE Torso Right Side Tattoo
Arrest Date: 2/16/2013 at 20:15
Arrest Location: 231 Stony Point Dr, Sebastian
Arresting Agency: Indian River County Sheriff's Office
Booking Date: 2/16/2013 at 22:49
Booking Number: 2013-00000708
Case No: 2013-00022169
Commissary Number: 365345
Possibility Phone Calls: No
Release Status: No
Total Bond: [ No Bond ]
Charges:
Reason Bond Number Bond Set Amount Bond Set Type Disposition / Date Court Date / Time Docket # Bond Remarks
Lewd Lasc Battery on Child 12 - 16 YOA [ No Bond ]
Lewd Lasc Battery on Child 12 - 16 YOA [ No Bond ]
Comments: N/A
Release Date: N/A
Reason for being released: N/A
Releasing Officer: N/A
Responsible Person: N/A
Address: 231 Stony Point Drive, Sebastian, FL 32958, USA

[demwing]

29. I would have believed you

without reposting all the personal data

[Spitfire of ATJ]

11. The parents of the younger girl believe in the "indocrination" crap pushed by the Right.

Last edited Wed May 22, 2013, 12:01 PM - Edit history (1)

[shawn703]

12. I'd like to see a statement from the younger girl's parents

Saying that the reason they pressed charges was because the other girl was a girl, and that they would have let it slide if the it was an 18 year old man messing around with their daughter instead. For some reason, I don't think such a statement exists, and this is just a sad attempt by the accused's parents to make the victim's parents look like the bad guys.

But wait! There is a statement from the younger girl's mother!

"In an interview with WPEC CBS 12, the younger girl's mother reportedly said that the decision to press charges has nothing to do with the fact that Hunt and the younger girl were in a lesbian relationship. The mother said her family would have reacted the same way if their daughter had been involved with an 18-year-old man, according to the WPEC report."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/os-kaitlyn-hunt-aclu-same-sex-charges-20130522,0,4644821.story

[PatrynXX]

15. after reading that think if the parents knew

they should be charged with child endangerment for allowing them to muck around for 2 years and not doing a thing. Blaming just the teen isn't quite right. Course ACLU should back off as well. Love it when someone calls ACLU anti Christian. yeah well they'd say that until ACLU stands up for their rights too.

[joeglow3]

17. That is also a lie to gin up support

They are saying they started dating when they were on the basketball team, when she was 18 already.

[shawn703]

18. 2 years and not doing a thing?

This is the crap they're trying to use to smear the parents of the younger girl:

"The parents of the other girl, a fellow player in Hunt's basketball team, are believed to have called police to report the pair's alleged relationship as soon as Hunt turned 18."

Yet by the older girl's parents own admission:

"In September, shortly after Kaitlyn's 18th birthday, the girls began dating, and they eventually expressed their affection for one another in intimate ways."

Both quotes at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/05/22/kaitlyn-hunt-anonymous-lesbian_n_3318291.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

Hardly anywhere near 2 years of letting them muck around when the parents called the police to report the relationship after the older girl turned 18 when sexual contact didn't start until after the older girl turned 18.

[blackspade]

21. This case seems problematic on a couple of levels.

The primary problem seems to do with timing.
The second, terminology

If the one sexual contact that I can find that has been alleged, that the girls engaged in, occurred before Hunt turned 18, then this whole mess is a grave miscarriage of justice.

The articles I could find use terms like "consensual relationship." Was it sexual or not?
I see nothing wrong with a relationship, ie dating among teens. Sex is another matter, but I have yet to see an article that is explicit about what Hunt is said to have actually done and when.

On it's face it looks like another Fundie witch-hunt.

[shawn703]

22. Here's an article that will help

"The misinformation on the social media sites indicates law enforcement purposely waited until miss hunt turned 18--that's not true--Miss Hunt was 18 in early August," said Sheriff Loar, "The victim was 14, and has been and was 14 throughout that whole ordeal."

New evidence released today shows Facebook messages to the victim from Kate, stating she knew she'd get in trouble for dating a girl so young.

"Before Miss Hunt was arrested there were conversations on social media that she knew she was 18 and she knew what she was wrong with a younger person," Loar said. "I think you must look at all the facts involved."


http://cbs12.com/news/top-stories/stories/free-kate-new-bombshell-kaitlyn-hunt-teen-lesbian-affair-7523.shtml?wap=0

[blackspade]

27. Thanks for the info.

[demwing]

30. Facebook is such a very damned stupid toy to play with

We are selling ourselves out through passive acceptance, but when will we accept that in the battle between freedom and profits, corporations are our adversaries, and Facebook is a traitor wearing the false face of a billion friends?

[FlynnArcher72]

31. The ignorance here is staggering, but the law is the law

I understand the very good point Matthew made here. If they were to investigate the relationships at the high school, how many 17 year old boys are dating 14 or 15 year old girls? For that matter, how many 17 year old girls are doing the same with younger boys? If the letter of the law is to be followed, then it would be fair and just to weed out these relationships as well, but there will be nothiing done in this direction. The core of this is fear and hate, pure and simple. Had the younger girl's parents been more accepting of the life choice of their daughter, would thay have raised as much of a stink about this? Possibly, but possibly not.
I have a daughter who is 15 going on 16. If she were dataing a boy three years older than her while still a minor, I would have a few issues with it (admittedly, though, I tend to be a bit over-protective in this regard). Hwever, if the guy she was dating were to have proven himself to be honorable, decent, and not a total schmuck, then I would be a bit more tolerant (barely. Over-protective, remember?). It would be the same in my mind if she started seeing a girl. In either case, despite my fatherly tendency t not like anyone my daughter dates, her significant other would have to do something truly horrible to provoke the response thie parents in this story engaged in.
I noticed in the comments that the subject of sex was raised, although it was not mentioned in the actual story. I am not stupid by any stretch of the imagination. I understand that teens will veer off into the land of sex and, as parents, the best we can hope for is that they wait, but that is not always going to happen. If the two girls were simply involved with no sex in the relationship, then the charges are a bit over the top. If they did have a sexual relationship, the law is pretty clear on the matter and there is little that can be done at this point unless the 17 year old can find a way to beat the charges she has been ambushed with.
That is the key phrase here. The girl was ambushed, pure and simple. There was no effort by the younger girl's parents to desolve the relationship they did not approve of in aby other way. There were no prir cmplaints filed by the parents to the school, no effort to contact the older girl's parents too express their concerns and wishes, and no attempt made to speak to the girls themselves. The parents decided to bide their time and go for the throat. That is very low and reveals more about their lack of character than anything else.
I would have understood if the younger girl's parents, opposed to gay or lesbian relationships, refused to allow the girls to see each other. They have a right to their belief and opinion and the right to raise their daughter as they see fit while she is a minor. I would not have had a problem with this, even though I would have disagreed with their lack of tolerance. Thier family, their choice. What I don't understand is how they can be so paranoid, so hateful, and so vicious about it that they decided the best possible course of action is to potentially ruin the life of a young woman simply on the basis that she had fallen in love with their daughter. Above all else, that shows how mind-numbingly ignorant the younger girl's parents are.

[shawn703]

32. I think you've only heard the social media side of the story

Which is the story told only from the side of the older girl's family.

The arrest affidavit is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/05/21/us/hunt-arrest-affidavit.html?_r=0

The older girl was 18 and the younger girl was 14 during all sexual contact between the two. The relationship became sexual around Christmas 2012, culminating in a night in January 2013 when the younger girl ran away from home, the older girl picked her up and took her back to her home and they had sex. The police listened in on the phone conversation between the girls on February, and the arrest was made the same month. There was no ambush by the younger girls parents as the older girl turned 18 in August before the two even started dating.

More here:
http://www.cbs12.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_7523.shtml?wap=0

[FlynnArcher72]

33. A retraction... of sorts

I feel a bit chagrined here. I am ususllay the first person to take a pause and research a topic I read about before forming an opinion and strongly recommend others do the same. In this case, however, I let my irritation take control of the steering wheel of my mouth, caring little for where it steered so long as it ran over those who fired me up. It appears that you are right, Shawn. I thank you for knocking some sense back into me on this. The older girl is definitely breaking the law and is rightfully going to get persecuted for her actions.
I do feel though, that there is even more to this than the stories I have been able to pull up (which are largely repetitive). The girls were in a relationship for quite some time before the oldest turned 18. I still have to wonder at the lesbian angle because, according to the 18 year old's parents, the younger girl's parents never contacted them with any concerns over what was going on (unless there is a news story floating onn this that I have not been able to find. There does seem to be some level of vindictiveness here, but I have to wonder who it was that set the police on them. The girl's parents are the most likely (and despite the mother's claim that it had nothing t do with the nature of the relationship other than their age, there could still be underlying motivations that she is not stating publicly). The coach who dismissed the older girl from sports due to her orientation is another possiblity as well. The same could be said for anyone who knew the two girls were in a relatinship. The police caught them through a tapped phone conversation. This is something they would need a warrant for. To get that warrant, they would need reasonable cause, which means someone had to have brought it to their attention. This could have been brought to their attention the night the younger girl ran away and was picked up by her older girlfriend, so there is another possibility there as well.
It could very well be that it is simply a matter of their age that is the whole and entire cause for the chain of events. It is still possible though that the lesbianism is also a factor. Until I read more that states differently, I will be treating both as an equal possibility.

[shawn703]

34. I have no doubts

That the younger girl's parents were the ones who called police, and in fact I think I did read that it was them and they contacted them after hearing about the relationship through the coach and school employees. This is speculation on my part but possibly that encounter in the school bathroom ended up with them being caught, which would both explain why the parents found out this way and why the older girl was expelled.

My understanding of the phone call was that the detective was listening into the conversation with at least the parents present. I'm not sure if this would require a warrant or not.

The claim that the younger girl's parents only filed charged because this was a homosexual relationship seems pretty weak to me. To believe that would be to believe they would be okay if it was an 18 year man sleeping with their 14 year old daughter instead. If these parents were religious zealots like the accused's parents claim, wouldn't this be just as much of a problem in their eyes? Their daughter won't be "pure" on her wedding night!

Anyway, there's a lot we don't know, and probably will never know unless this case goes to trial. The one thing that seems indisputable though is that the accused's parents are being very light on facts when comparing their statements to what's alleged on the complaint, and very heavy on emotional appeals and trying to rile up public support by claiming their daughter is the real victim.