Kaitlyn Hunt is charged with two charges of sexual battery on a person 12-16 years old.
It is thought the other girl’s parents found out about the relationship and went straight to the police.
Kate’s mother, Kerry Hunt Smith, has created a Facebook group in support of her daughter and to campaign for the charges to be dropped.
“Kaitlyn’s girlfriend denies that Kaitlyn ever pressured her and is adamant that their relationship is entirely consensual, but her parents are out to destroy Kaitlyn’s life,” Smith wrote online.
Both Kate and her girlfriend were on the basketball team at Sebastian River High School, but Kate was kicked off the team when their relationship was discovered and later the school board voted to expel her.
Kate may have gone against the state’s age-of-consent statute, but her mother thinks the charges are less to do with the law than with homophobia on the part of Kate’s girlfriend’s parents. She told Gawker:
“They are out to destroy my daughter, because they feel like she ‘made’ their daughter gay. They see being gay as wrong and they blame my daughter.”
Kate has until Friday to accept a plea deal including two years of house arrest followed by a year of probation.
If she does not accept and she is found guilty, she could reportedly permanently be named a sexual offender on her record.
“It’s a death sentence for her. Her life would be over at 18,” her mother told WPTV.
The “Free Kate” Facebook page has over 20,000 supporters.
Kate’s family has started a petition to “stop the prosecution of an 18-year-old girl in a same-sex relationship”.
The petition has nearly 100,000 supporters.
Image via Facebook
