Ugly case ~ I'm not sure why the school got involved ~ nothing [other than the gf's parents] suggests that Kaitlyn is a predator ~ bolding/emphasis below is in original, along with few "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

Florida Teen Expelled, Charged With Felony For Lesbian Relationship
By Judd Legum on May 18, 2013 at 8:27 pm

A Florida family says their 18-year-old daughter was charged with a felony and expelled from high school as a result of a consensual, same-sex relationship with another student.

Kaitlyn Hunt started dating a female classmate at the beginning of the school year when she was 17 and the girl she was dating was about three years younger. According to an account posted to Facebook by Kaitlyn’s mother, in February, shortly after Kaitlyn turned 18, she was arrested on felony charges at the behest of her girlfriend’s parents. The specific crime was “sexual battery on a person 12-16 years old.”

Kaitlyn’s mother believes the charges were motivated by anti-gay animus:


But Kaitlyn’s problems did not end there. Her girlfriend’s parents appealed to the school board and had her expelled from Sebastian River High School. Kaitlyn’s mom reports that the State Attorney, Brian Workman, has offered Kaitlyn a plea deal “of two years house arrest and one year probation.” Kaitlyn has until next Friday to accept the plea deal or face a trial.

The family has started a petition calling on the state attorney to drop the charges against Kaitlyn.

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/05/18/2033281/florida-teen-expelled-charged-with-felony-over-lesbian-relationship/

Here's some follow-up ~ going to trial could be VERY tricky ~ a lot will depend on IF the gf will testify that the relationship is/was consensual, directly contradicting her parents ~ there are a few "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

What’s Next For Kaitlyn Hunt, The Teen Charged With A Felony For Same-Sex Relationship With Classmate
By Judd Legum on May 19, 2013 at 6:36 pm

On Friday night, 18-year-old Kaitlyn Hunt and her family went public with their story: Kaitlyn was charged with a felony stemming from a relationship she had with a 15-year-old girl at her high school. The response in the 48-hours that followed, Kaitlyn’s father Steven Hunt told ThinkProgress in an interview, was “extraordinary.”

Already, nearly 40,000 people have signed a petition calling on the Assistant State Attorney, Brian Workman, to drop the case. On Facebook, more than 13,000 people have joined a group — Free Kate — in support of the family.

Last week, her father said, Workman offered Kaitlyn a plea bargain. She could plead guilty to child abuse, a felony, and spend two years under house arrest. The judge would determine if she would have to register as a sex offender. They were given a deadline of May 24th to accept the offer or face trial.

Kaitlyn’s father suggests his daughters arrest — and the substantial sentence sought by the prosecutor — are motivated by anti-gay bias. He told ThinkProgress that the younger girl’s parents have told teachers at the high school that “their daughter will NOT be gay.”

So what’s next for Kaitlyn?

The family is hoping that public pressure will improve the offer from the State Attorney. Her father said Kaitlyn would be willing to plead to a misdemeanor, but not a felony. If the position of the State Attorney does not change, Kaitlyn and her family are prepared to go to trial.

The family’s attorney, Julia Graves, has assembled a table of experienced defense lawyers that will convene next week to discuss Kaitlyn’s legal options. Meanwhile, Kaitlyn is scheduled to appear in court again on June 20. At that time, if a plea agreement is not reached, the judge could set a date for trial.

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/05/19/2034111/next-for-kaitlyn-hunt/

There is the age difference thing in Florida law, isn't there?

Surely there are plenty of other 18 year old dating 15 year old cases that result in charges and being thrown out of school.
Oh...wait...those aren't lesbian relationships.

Not sure if it's a federal law, but at least most states [I think] have a statutory rape charge, which is defined as sex with a minor ~ and I think the age for minor vs adult is 18yo ~

Sooz

Florida Statutes re: Sexual Battery
As I read, it no crime was committed... but I'm not a lawyer.

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/ind ... 4.011.html

I am thinking they are focusing on this, oskar.

(b) Engages in any act with that person while the person is 12 years of age or older but less than 18 years of age which constitutes sexual battery under paragraph (1)(h) commits a felony of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

Florida doesn't seem to have that four year window that NJ does. Florida's age of consent is also 18 so....

Very Messy.

oskar, that could be the rationale behind the assistant state attorney's plea bargain offer for Kaitlyn to plead guilty to "child abuse" vs trying her for "sexual battery" ~

Kathy, what is the "four year window"?

Sooz

Some states structure their sex offenses based on the difference in age between a perp and victim, so that it is a worse crime for a sixteen year old to abuse a twelve year old than for a sixteen year old to have sex with a fifteen year old.

Some states have age 18, age 17, age 16 and even age 14 as the age of legal consent.

Weak case. Hence the deal offer.

The selection by states of an age of consent and/or age-gap provision affects who may be prosecuted and
potentially convicted for a sexual offense that requires registration. Age of consent laws vary from state to state
(16–18 years of age), thus what may be perfectly legal in one state, may, by virtue of crossing the state line,
become a crime in another state. For example, the states of Georgia and Alabama, which border Florida, have an
age of consent of 16 while Florida’s age of consent is 18 years of age. While the age of consent in Florida is 18
years of age, Florida law does have an age-gap provision that provides that a 16 or 17 year-old can legally consent
to sexual conduct with a person 16-23 years of age.
http://www.flsenate.gov/PublishedContent/Session/2012/InterimReports/2012-214cj.pdf

Could be some entrapment here as well.

The law still sucks, jab.

In Florida, prior to the passage of s. 943.04354, F.S., if a 15 year-old and an 18 year-old were engaged in a consensual sexual relationship, the 18 year-old was subject to registration as a sexual offender and could not petition the court for removal of the requirement to register for 20 years after the completion of his or her sentence, or if adjudication was withheld, 10 years after being released from all sanctions.6 Florida’s “Romeo and Juliet” law does not make it legal for an 18 year-old to have a sexual relationship with a 15 year-old; however, it does provide a mechanism for the offender to petition or make a motion to the court to remove the requirement to register as a sexual offender if certain criteria are met.

The case is not really weak under Florida law.

Interesting you mention "entrapment", oskar ~ what went thru my mind is that, while it is possible, it seems like a "very convenient coincidence" the gf's parents didn't know about the relationship until Kaitlyn turned 18 ~

Sooz


Edited to change "gf's friends" to "gf's parents" ~

I'm just glad I didn't spend my teens in this country. I probably would still be on some sexual offenders list.

They knew and waited instead of preventing a "crime".
Parents are christianists, remember.

....and if it were an 18 year old boy having a sexual relationship with a 14 year old girl, would we be having the same conversation.?

Not enough information. Skin color, religion, status of boy's parents?

I can only answer for myself ~ is it ideal? ~ NO! ~ but I see a very great difference between an 18yo [girl OR boy] and a 15yo [girl OR boy] in an ongoing, consensual relationship vs boys taping themselves while taking turns raping a drunk young girl ~

Sooz

sooz06 wrote:

jimwilliam wrote:

....and if it were an 18 year old boy having a sexual relationship with a 14 year old girl, would we be having the same conversation.?

I can only answer for myself ~ is it ideal? ~ NO! ~ but I see a very great difference between an 18yo [girl OR boy] and a 15yo [girl OR boy] in an ongoing, consensual relationship vs boys taping themselves while taking turns raping a drunk young girl ~

Sooz

That's not where I was going with this, Sooz. There have been occasions here and at the other place where we've had stories about young adult males in relationships with young teen girls where the boys have not fared as well as the young woman in this story has.

She's been charged, hasn't she?

I honestly don't remember that kind of conversation here, jim ~ my own view is and has always been that kids experiment and that raging pre-teen and teen hormones are simply facts of life ~ and it begins a whole lot earlier than when I was that age ~ I've posted about several conversations I've had with middle-schoolers at our school that stunned me ~ I see our responsibility as adults as being open and honest ~ pros AND cons ~ that's very tough to do for many adults ~ and that can be somewhat tricky for me because I don't know how the kidlets' families are dealing with sexual issues at home ~ we need to accept reality as reality and learn to deal with it ~

Going back to your original question ... it's tough to make declarative sentences that umbrella varying age groups ~ I personally see a greater disparity between 18 and 15 than I do between 30 and 21 or 45 and 30 ~ for me, it depends fully on the people and their level of maturity ~

Sooz

17 and the "victim" 14? and the case is not brought forth until Kaitlyn is 18? Personally, I think our laws pertaining to adolescent sexuality are archaic...the matter does not stem around the gay issue but in reality stems around the age of consent...and most 14 yo are of competency to give consent.

Nothing but christianist entrapment, IMO.

Age of consent in NJ is 16. So a 16 yo can have sex with a 35 yo and no problem. It's statutory rape under the age of 13 with or without consent. If you are under 16 but over 13, you have a 4 year window. A consenting 13 yo can have sex with a 17 yo without problems, but it's statutory rape if she has sex with a 35 yo.

I think that's as good as it will get. Florida's law sucks. Jim, I think the victim's parents only brought the case because of the lesbian relationship. Usually there is an agenda when these kinds of cases come forward.