INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — An 18-year-old senior at Sebastian River High School has until Friday to decide whether to accept a plea deal that would label her a child abuser or take her chances in court fighting two felony counts of performing sexual acts with a 14-year-old schoolmate, which could label her a sex offender.
According to the arrest affidavit, at least two of the encounters took place in a girls’ bathroom at the school in late 2012 and early 2013. Another encounter took place under the roof of the 18-year-old’s family home in Sebastian on Jan. 4 when the 14-year-old ran away from her Vero Beach home, was picked up in a car by the senior and spent the night.
The senior has since been reassigned to the Alternative Center for Education but will be allowed to walk with her graduating class at Sebastian River High commencement exercises.
The accused and the accuser in the case are both female students, who began what the parents of defendant Kaitlyn Hunt say was a “consensual” sexual relationship last fall, when their daughter was already 18 and her girlfriend was 14.
The age of consent in Florida is 18, according to state statute. Apart from state law, Indian River County School District regulations do not differentiate between consensual and forcible sexual relations when one of the participants is under the age of 16.
Hunt was arrested in mid-February after the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office set up two controlled calls between the minor and Hunt, during which Hunt admitted to having a sexual relationship with the younger girl.
During the calls, the minor told Hunt that Hunt was the first person she’d had sex with and asked Hunt if that meant anything to her.
“Kaitlyn said that obviously it meant something to her,” the arrest affidavit stated.
The Sheriff’s Office began its investigation into Hunt’s relationship with the minor after the now-15-year-old and her parents approached authorities. Hunt’s family has since taken to Facebook and other social media platforms to protest her arrest and pending prosecution.
A petition seeking the dropping of the charges has received more than 150,000 signatures on Change.org as of Thursday. The petition is called “Assistant State Attorney Brian Workman: Stop the prosecution of an 18 year old girl in a same-sex relationship.”
The version of Hunt’s story being promulgated by her parents has gone viral on the internet, with celebrities including author Anne Rice and Kelly Osbourne taking up the teen’s cause.
The teen’s story has been picked up by CBS News, Huffington Post, the New York Daily News and the liberal magazine Mother Jones, as well as the local print, broadcast and online media.
Hunt’s family paints a portrait of a good student, a girl who never had a disciplinary problem, that simply fell in love with a younger girl.
Hunt was voted “Most School Spirit” by her fellow classmates, according to her mother, Kelley Smith. She was a school cheerleader, a member of the basketball team, a camp counselor and a cheering coach, as well. Hunt is also a medical assistant training to join the Valencia College nursing program after graduating from Sebastian River High.
Hunt’s family paints a different picture of the minor’s parents.
“They were out to destroy my daughter,” reads a message shared through Facebook from Hunt’s mother, Kelley Smith. “They feel like my daughter ‘made’ their daughter gay. They are bigoted, religious zeolites (sic) 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.”
When reached by phone Monday evening, the minor’s parents said, “No comment.”
Smith wrote that the minor’s parents have pressured the School District, the Sheriff’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office to punish Hunt – have her expelled, brought up on stronger charges, and fight the proffered plea deal.
All three agencies deny the minor’s family has brought any pressure to bear.
State Attorney Bruce Colton said his office is under “no undue pressure” from the minor’s family for stronger charges. He added that given the evidence his office has, the charges are “clearly justified.”
Though two separate judges in the Circuit Court opined that Hunt could be allowed to remain at Sebastian River High School, according to Smith, the School District rejected the ruling. Not so, according to Schools Superintendent Dr. Fran Adams.
“I’m prohibited from disclosing” details about students, the superintendent said. However, she noted that when an incident happens on campus – such as what the Sheriff’s Office alleges in its arrest affidavit – the district undertakes a prescribed process to determine what disciplinary action should be taken and makes a recommendation to the School Board.
The district uses a matrix found in the Code of Student Conduct, which every student receives before school begins and is available on the School District’s website.
In Hunt’s case, it mattered not what the judges had to say – “They’re two different arenas,” Dr. Adams said.
Given the Sheriff’s Office arrest affidavit, it would appear Hunt’s alleged transgressions fell under the “Sexual Battery” and/or the “Sexual Offense” categories (see box).
One of the disciplinary actions that can follow a “sexual offense” under the student code of conduct is recommendation for alternative placement, which is what the School Board approved for Hunt.
State Attorney Bruce Colton has offered Hunt a plea deal that does not include jail time, but she has to decide by Friday. Under the deal, Hunt would plead to a third degree felony child abuse charge – a lesser felony than the two second degree felony charges of lewd and lascivious battery on a child 12 to 16 years old.
If Hunt were to take the deal, she would have to serve two years of community control – which is similar to house arrest – followed by one year of probation. Under community control, Hunt would be allowed to leave her home to go to school, work, the doctor’s office and other such appointments, and to church.
Colton said it would be up to the judge to determine whether or not to adjudicate guilt.
If the judge were to find Hunt guilty, she would be a convicted felon and lose many of her civil liberties. If, however, the judge were to withhold adjudication of guilt, Hunt would retain her liberties and not be considered a convicted felon.
Either way, Hunt would not be considered a sexual offender or predator if she were to take the plea deal on the child abuse charge.
This is a “fair plea,” Colton said. He explained that the State Attorney’s Office weighs the charges, the severity of the crime, the defendant’s background and criminal history, and the victim’s wishes to come up with a fair outcome.
Colton said the office did not feel strongly that Hunt needed to register as a sexual offender.
That could change if Hunt doesn’t take the deal and instead goes to trial on the two lewd and lascivious charges.
If found guilty, Hunt would most like have to register as a sexual offender and would face a sentence ranging from probation to 15 years of prison – per charge.
Colton said he would expect the two counts to be served concurrently.
As for those who would point to Hunt’s seemingly consensual relationship, Colton said that could be a factor during sentencing but it doesn’t have any bearing on the case.
“The law is very clear,” he said. Consent of a 14-year-old is not a defense against the charges.
When asked if the media attention and petitions have made a difference, Colton said, “No, it hasn’t and it won’t.”
