GUILTY FL - Kaitlyn Hunt for statutory rape of 14yo girl, Vero Beach, 2013

[AnaTeresa]

I agree, Zuckerschnecke. I am really uncomfortable with prosecuting a high school kid who just happens to be eighteen for consensual activity with their boy/girlfriend, particularly for these poor kids that end up on the registry. This ends up clouding the registry, reducing faith in it, and ruins these kids lives. The registry is a fantastic idea, but diluting it is going to cause a lot of issues. I already see people saying, "Well, a lot of people are on the registry for stupid reasons, so I bet X didn't do much either," when they are a serious criminal.

Eighteen is also this gray area. You're old enough to serve our country, but not old enough to drink. You're old enough to enter into a contract by yourself, but still may be in high school. Some eighteen year olds are mature enough to marry and have kids, while others are not too far from playing with Legos or Barbies. It's such a nebulous area that like others have posted, I feel like actual coercion need be involved before criminal punishment (provided it's not an eighteen year old with an eleven year old - I don't think anyone is advocating that).

Right now, the facts in this particular case are murky, so I really can't make a judgment call. But I do have some significant issues with the law as it stands, the lack of education for teens about consent (when alcohol is at play, when one partner is younger than the other, etc.), and the scattershot application of said laws.

 

[JeannaT]

Certainly it is, if you don't want to be my boyfriend and your a minor and I'm 20! Yeah ILLEGAL

I'm not quite sure how you thought from my post that I'm talking about an age difference. I'm talking about coercive relationships, not age differences.

I think you have to follow this conversation back several pages to see that it wasn't really directly related to this case of these two girls, it was more general.

 

[believe09]

A credible threat of bodily harm rises to the level of punishable coercion, IMHO.

"I won't be your boyfriend anymore if you won't have sex with me" is not punishable, at all, by any stretch of the imagination. The guy wants sex, he does't want a girlfriend who won't give it to him. Now it's up to her to give in or not have that guy as a boyfriend. I can't imagine punishing that.

Any more than, if you don't stop cursing all the time I won't want to hang out with you. if you dress weird like that I'm not going to the mall with you. If you sit with Lindsay at lunch, you can't hang out with us anymore.

Got it-only the threat of physical harm is your yardstick when it is sex involving minors. So drop the age requirements between teens? Or just teens in the same school who could be considered to be "peers"?

 

[believe09]

I will be interested to read updates on this case. If I had to make a guess, I forsee Kaitlyn taking a plea...in fact I see her atty approaching the DA for another deal.

JMVHO.

 

[TheDuchess]

Bringing this back up for reference:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/05/...no-choice-but-to-report-lesbian-relationship/

The victims parents stance:



IMO, the victims parents did everything they could do to try and stop the age inappropriate sexual relationship and eventually out of desperation, ask assistance from the law. What else could they have done?

Kaitlyn's parents:



Kaitlyn's parents feel that if it was a heterosexual relationship with the same age difference the victims parents wouldn't have cared. IMO, this is a very inappropriate and irrelevant move on the parents part. Shame on them!!! The law is the law and there is no need to bring up sexual orientation. The issue is Kaitlyn was ask to cease the relationship and she didn't abide. Many parents would have issues with a 14 year old having sex, dating or hanging out with a 18 year old.

If you watch the video at the link it then goes on to Kaitlyn's parents addressing the punishment their daughter is facing. Kaitlyn's parents say they are not asking that their daughter doesn't get punished. They are asking that she receives misdemeanor punishment instead of felony. I have to agree strongly with the parents of Kaitlyn on this issue.

The ACLU steps in to back Kaitlyn because of the harsh laws.
http://tallahasseeo.com/2013/05/28/...t-on-prosecution-of-18-year-old-kaitlyn-hunt/

IMO, this brings everything back to the fact the the punishment does not fit the crime and there is a need for change in the way the laws are written in Florida.

I really am furious that the parents are pulling a card and trying to say this is "bigoted". No, sorry this is about laws. It has nothing to do with discrimination other than Kaitlyn's parents trying to make it such. Maybe it will work with some, but they lost their credibility with me. Like I said earlier, I'm not paying attention to this elsewhere so I don't know what various groups are say.

Does anyone believe the ACLU would have gotten involved if this wasn't a same-sex couple? Well played Mr. and Mrs. Hunt! You have successfully made your adult daughter who had sex with a 14 year old into a victim.

Has the ACLU taken up any cases where it is opposite sex couples? Highly doubtful. This case has seriously jumped the shark here. Even I have been derailed by discussing underage sex and the gay aspect of the case.

But this case isn't/shouldn't be about the 14 year old. This case is about the 18 year old. Every state in this country expects an 18 year old to be at an age to behave like an adult, to accept adult responsibilities and to obey the laws accordingly. As I have said before, no one turns 18 years old without realizing the milestone they have just passed into adulthood. It should really go without saying.

The more I hear from Kaitlyn, her family and her attorneys, the less sympathetic I am to her case.

This isn't to say that I don't agree that the penalties should be the same for this relationship as would be if an 18 year old had forcibly raped a 14 year old-and I am not really sure they are. I too agree that putting statutory rapists on a sex offender registry simply dilutes the system. I have a friend who found out there was a RSO on their street. Several of the parents went to his door and talked to him about it and he was nice and polite and said he was embarrassed by it, but it stemmed from a relationship he had in high school with a younger girl whose parents didn't approve. They bought his story and felt much better about having him as a neighbor. They actually felt sorry for him. But I wonder to this day if that is truly the case. Anyone now on the registry can state this is the case and it is sometimes difficult to tell if they are guilty of statutory rape or a violent predator. In my opinion, these 2 people are not equally dangerous.

There are many other cases of people being put on the registry for much more minor offenses that are considered to be "sexual assault" including grabbing someone's butt. As a parent-I want to know about the person who is attacking and raping people-not some drunk guy who grabbed someone's butt in a bar. (Not saying that isn't illegal-just a different range.)

 

[Cherry]

Didn't any of you date seniors as a ninth grader?? I know that I did.

 

[believe09]

Didn't any of you date seniors as a ninth grader?? I know that I did.

I think there is a follow up question here, but I wont ask it. You can share if you want to.

 

[believe09]

The case here isnt about dating-it is about a sexual relationship, an involved set of parents and the law prohibiting the sexual contact.

 

[TheDuchess]

Didn't any of you date seniors as a ninth grader?? I know that I did.

I did lots of stuff as a ninth grader that I shouldn't have. Doesn't really make it right though, does it? Sure, I'm alive and well to talk about it.

And no...I didn't date seniors when I was a freshman.

ETA: In my experience: When I was 19 years old I dated 2 separate 29 year olds that year. I guess I thought they would be more mature than guys my age-they both had established careers, etc... I found out that they were both more immature than most of the guys my own age. To me, it seems as though both of these guys had serious commitment issues and were only dating me because A.) I was young and hot and B.) I wasn't at the age where I would be seeking marriage. It has been 25 or so years since then and the first guy has never married and is still living the high life and the other guy did eventually get married, but every time I see him around, he looks completely miserable. BTW-he didn't get married until he was about 40 FWIW.

 

[TheDuchess]

Question: Does anyone know the actual birth dates of Kaitlyn and the 14 year old?

 

[believe09]

I have a friend who found out there was a RSO on their street. Several of the parents went to his door and talked to him about it and he was nice and polite and said he was embarrassed by it, but it stemmed from a relationship he had in high school with a younger girl whose parents didn't approve. They bought his story and felt much better about having him as a neighbor. They actually felt sorry for him. But I wonder to this day if that is truly the case. Anyone now on the registry can state this is the case and it is sometimes difficult to tell if they are guilty of statutory rape or a violent predator. In my opinion, these 2 people are not equally dangerous.

Interesting that you bring this up, The Duchess. There was a resident of my building who showed on the RSO-I routinely check it, fwiw. I had an opportunity to cross paths with him finally and told him up front I knew. My sole purpose was so he didnt have to wonder and we could establish some boundaries. At first the story he chose to tell, which I didnt want to know frankly, was a tale of a 16 year old boy (him) who had a relationship with a peer.

He served time some hard time for it so I didnt really buy that story...but whatever. Later, he approached me with an altered version of this story that included how he was "framed" by local PD and the victim.

You see where we are headed here....the story kept changing.

At the end of the day, his victim was 10 years old at the time of the offense and he was 28.

Every man in prison is innocent and everyone on the registry is a stat rape case.....just sayin.

In Kaitlyn's case, the facts arent really in dispute.

 

[Elley Mae]

Question: Does anyone know the actual birth dates of Kaitlyn and the 14 year old?

http://www.examiner.com/article/kai...her-18th-birthday-and-other-false-information

Kate actually turned 18 in August and began dating the girl in November. The charges were filed in February, which is when her arrest took place.

http://www.wjno.com/articles/1290-w.../audio-kelley-hunt-smith-says-child-11311817/

According to the arrest affidavit, stemming from the February 16, 2013 arrest of Kaitlyn Hunt, she and her girlfriend began dating in November 2012. The Indian River County Sheriff's Office indicates that Kaitlyn's birthday is August 14, 1994, meaning that she turned 18 on that date in 2012, three months before the dating began, at least according to the alleged victim.

Kaitlyn's mother, Kelley Hunt-Smith tells us "The girls knew eachother when they were both underage. They began dating when Kate just turned 18 and the other girl was 2 months shy of her 15th bday."

 

[Dionysia]

I can not imagine a 13-14 year old having sex. What is wrong with a child that sex is what they desire? Really?

Did you miss puberty? *laugh*

Even at that age - and I 'blossomed' early - I sure was thinking about sex.

 

[Dionysia]

I really am furious that the parents are pulling a card and trying to say this is "bigoted". No, sorry this is about laws. It has nothing to do with discrimination other than Kaitlyn's parents trying to make it such. Maybe it will work with some, but they lost their credibility with me. Like I said earlier, I'm not paying attention to this elsewhere so I don't know what various groups are say.

And I call b.s. on that.

As a previous poster noted (and I forget who, my apologies), these laws are unfairly applied. Until recently it was along racial and/or socioeconomic lines. In this case, I strongly feel it's due to sexual orientation.

 

[TheDuchess]

http://www.examiner.com/article/kai...her-18th-birthday-and-other-false-information

Kate actually turned 18 in August and began dating the girl in November. The charges were filed in February, which is when her arrest took place.

http://www.wjno.com/articles/1290-w.../audio-kelley-hunt-smith-says-child-11311817/

According to the arrest affidavit, stemming from the February 16, 2013 arrest of Kaitlyn Hunt, she and her girlfriend began dating in November 2012. The Indian River County Sheriff's Office indicates that Kaitlyn's birthday is August 14, 1994, meaning that she turned 18 on that date in 2012, three months before the dating began, at least according to the alleged victim.

Kaitlyn's mother, Kelley Hunt-Smith tells us "The girls knew eachother when they were both underage. They began dating when Kate just turned 18 and the other girl was 2 months shy of her 15th bday."

Thanks for this...so according to this they had a 3 year and 7 month age gap...give or take a few weeks.

 

[TheDuchess]

And I call b.s. on that.

As a previous poster noted (and I forget who, my apologies), these laws are unfairly applied. Until recently it was along racial and/or socioeconomic lines. In this case, I strongly feel it's due to sexual orientation.

Under what grounds?

 

[TheDuchess]

Did you miss puberty? *laugh*

Even at that age - and I 'blossomed' early - I sure was thinking about sex.

Actually, I did miss puberty. I have something called Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome. I am basically and XY female. That said, I never had a period and that was the hardest thing in the world to me.

Looking back on that time, I find it a blessing. I may have made stupid choices if I hadn't been so shy about not "developing" as quickly as some of my friends. Trust me-they made some really stupid choices, from getting pregnant, getting herpes and getting into relationships with older boys who took advantage of their naiveté. One friend was very advance sexually, but she ended up dating an older guy who beat her up constantly. She was too young to realize what mistake she was making and thought he "only beat her because he loved her SO MUCH." She had a troubled childhood with an abusive and then absent father and her mother worked her butt off to provide for her family-thus allowing my friend a bit too much rope. It was a devastating time in her life when an older "man" took advantage of a younger "child."

That is why these laws are in place.

(Oh...and they were both white)

 

[Dionysia]

Under what grounds?

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q...+prosecution&btnG=&hl=en&as_sdt=0,22&as_vis=1

All scholarly articles dealing with the selective prosecution of statutory rape laws.

 

[Dionysia]

Duchess -

Anecdote is not data, but I will say that for all the adolescent nuttiness that went on, I didn't make bad choices. (I actually left that 'til my early twenties, but I digress.) No drugs, very little alcohol use, and I didn't lose my virginity until I was 3 months shy of my 18th birthday, with my serious boyfriend.

That said, what I DID have in spades were two loving, supportive, and honest parents. There was no shame, no guilt (religious or otherwise). My mother talked straight with me about what I was feeling (despite it being a bit awkward!). I wasn't judged by her or my father. They are smart people, they figured out that soon I was going to become sexually active with my boyfriend. So my mom took me to Planned Parenthood. And she talked to me, asked me if I was ready.

I am extraordinarily blessed to have had such an experience and I realize that it was the exception and not the rule. I wasn't looking for approval and acceptance and love from some guy, because I had it at home. Again, not many kids these days are that lucky. Nor do they always have all the information at their fingertips to make an informed decision.

Now as the mother of a son, I am committed to making sure he has all the information and that he can come to me with any questions, any time. My hope for him is not that he'll wait 'til marriage or wait 'til he's $INSERT_RANDOM_AGE, but that he'll wait 'til he's ready, whatever that means for him.

 

[Elley Mae]

Did you miss puberty? *laugh*

Even at that age - and I 'blossomed' early - I sure was thinking about sex.

Not that I am aware off, I didn't get my period till 16 almost 17. So no I was not thinking about sex at 13-14. I did have a life that kept me busy with camping and playing outside alot. I played with the boys not inside with the girls and dolls and silly stuff.