High schooler expelled, charged with felony for lesbian love

[debrand]

It does sound as if the girls' parents waited until after the girlfriend turned 18 to do anything. However, if the laws would have applied to a boy/girl relationship, they should apply to this one as well. Maybe this case will inspire some changes to the law. The article stated that the two girls were on the same basketball team and had some classes together. The 14 year old was taking upper level classes so the two were peers. Perhaps kids who are in highschool together should be exempt from such laws.

I agree with the poster who said that kids should be taught more in school about sex and age of consent laws.

[Lainey]

The law in Canada was changed, because under the previous law, sex with 14 yr old teens was legal, regardless of the age of the other person, which left authorities powerless to stop some major child exploitation.

Close-in-age exceptions make sense, but they will always be somewhat arbitrary - it's just that the cut-off dates vary.

Okay...so the first thing I posted was from AFTER the law changed? I thought it was from before. It says that under-16s can't have sex with anyone that's more than 5 years older than them. But if that was after the law changed, then that makes sense.

[crazyforkate]

This just makes me so, so angry. Ten bucks they would never have lifted a finger over a senior boy. Hopefully this ties up some laws, as some of you mentioned - but meanwhile a bunch of innocent people have to suffer, most particularly a girl who did absolutely nothing wrong. If she winds up a sex offender, I will be spitting mad.

[Arete]

There are plenty of young men who wind up on sex offender registries for cases like this, and it has not spurned any changes in these laws, so I will not be holding my breath that this girl's case is going to be a catalyst.

[Turtle]

Here's a post written by the father. It's all so sad.

http://www.xojane.com/issues/kaitlyn-hunt

Is sounds like the relationship began when they were both minors. So, legally, they couldn't even date or be a couple after she turned 18?

I understand that we have to have laws that draw the line somewhere, even if they don't always take into account individual situations, but this seems so unfair for this girl. I'm glad to see that her parents are supportive of her though. I hope they fight for the best outcome for their daughter. I hope the parents of the younger girl are prepared for a shitty/non-existent relationship with their daughter once she's able to move out. Because that's probably what they're going to get.

[2xx1xy1JD]

Lainey - yes, prior to 2008, 14 was the age of consent unless it was a relationship with someone in a position of trust (such as a teacher or foster parent). Not surprisingly, Canada started to become a magnet for creeps. When I was working for Children's Aid, we were often powerless to stop some really exploitive and disturbing situations.

Currently, the 5-year age difference rule applies in Canada to sexual relationships with 14 and 15 yr olds. The idea is not to criminalize teens, but to prevent exploitation.

How is it that basic laws on consent are not part of the sex ed curriculum?

[Mama Mia]

This just makes me so, so angry. Ten bucks they would never have lifted a finger over a senior boy. Hopefully this ties up some laws, as some of you mentioned - but meanwhile a bunch of innocent people have to suffer, most particularly a girl who did absolutely nothing wrong. If she winds up a sex offender, I will be spitting mad.

That might be true in this case. But this happens with boys (or occasionally a girl ) when they turn 18 and have been dating a younger girl (or boy ) as well. It can absolutely ruin lives if the younger partner has overly controlling parents, or they break up and the younger partner gets vindictive. And sometimes the younger one has been lying about their age anyway. I know a just turned 18 year old who had to spend a significant amount of time in jail for exactly this situation.

The Canadian law that has been quoted here seems much more sensible to me.

[roddma]

As a parent, I would have a problem with my 14 year old dating a person 3 years older than him/her, and it doesn't matter what sexual orientation(s) are involved. There's a big difference between a three year age gap at 14/17 years old and 17/20 years old (for example). Then again, I don't think 14 year olds should be getting themselves into long term relationships or dating seriously to begin with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statutory_rape

[Closed Womb]

I'm a little confused by people saying this wouldn't happen to a boy. Stuff like this does happen to boys.

Hell, sometimes stuff like this happens to boys when all of the parents and teenagers start out liking each other, but the relationship goes sour and a bitter, remorseful, and/or angry teenage girl/parents use statutory rape laws as revenge. They end up sex offenders.

Really, I think the only reason we even know about this one case is because she IS a lesbian. Otherwise, she'd just be like every other 18 year old who is dating someone too young for them.

[louisa05]

This just makes me so, so angry. Ten bucks they would never have lifted a finger over a senior boy. Hopefully this ties up some laws, as some of you mentioned - but meanwhile a bunch of innocent people have to suffer, most particularly a girl who did absolutely nothing wrong. If she winds up a sex offender, I will be spitting mad.

The story indicated that the parents are religious, so it likely would have happened if it were a boy. The parents probably do not want their daughter to be sexually active regardless of her partner's gender.

[2xx1xy1JD]

Similar things have happened to boys. I remember reading one article about a couple that got together in high school - her mom called police. The couple stayed together - they are now in their 30s, married and have 3 children, but he is still dealing with the fact that he is a registered sex offender. It limits where he can live, how he interacts with his daughters, prevents him from going to their school, etc.

These laws come from good intentions, in terms of keeping kids safe. They just need some logical close-in-age exceptions, along with more public education.

[ADoyle90815]

I'm a little confused by people saying this wouldn't happen to a boy. Stuff like this does happen to boys.

Hell, sometimes stuff like this happens to boys when all of the parents and teenagers start out liking each other, but the relationship goes sour and a bitter, remorseful, and/or angry teenage girl/parents use statutory rape laws as revenge. They end up sex offenders.

Really, I think the only reason we even know about this one case is because she IS a lesbian. Otherwise, she'd just be like every other 18 year old who is dating someone too young for them.

This. It does happen to boys, and sometimes it's because the girl's parents didn't like him, so they used the statutory rape laws as revenge.

[fakepigtails73]

I find this strange. When I was 14, I would have happily had sex with a 19-year-old man that I fell for. And it would have been legal where I live:

Oh, I guess it changed in 2008. I wonder why?:

I don't know. It seems strange to me that the couple having sex was okay one day (before the older girl turned 18), and then all of a sudden, it was illegal.

I relate, as I'm from Québec. I was 15 in 1988 and my boyfriend was 19 at the time. My Dad hated him, and in retrospect he's right to have found the dude "yucky" :disgust: but, aside from not letting him in our house he couldn't have him arrested for "dating" me at the time. Would that same situation occur in 2012 instead of 1988 then yes, he could've have him arrested.

It's always a trip when I read stuff re: age of consent laws in the US, they tend to vary from state to state whereas up here these laws are uniform in all provinces. Now here in Canada when the age was 14 were these laws applied the same way "ad mare usque ad mare", somehow that I don't think so... :pull-hair:

ps: excuse my bad syntax on today's posts...When I'm tired my English is so-so. :sleeping:

[AlexIsAwake]

This whole thing just infuriates me. These two girls were both top students, the younger one was taking advanced classes, that's why she was the older girl's classmate, and they played sports together. So it's easy to see they were peers. It was a case of a senior dating a sophomore. Honestly, this sort of thing was extremely common in my high school, and I imagine in most schools. The younger girl was very intelligent and probably mature for her age. Our laws are never perfect and this law is obviously flawed. There should be room to consider individual cases. I do not for a second believe the older girl committed any sort of crime against her girlfriend. Of course there are parents out there who don't want their 14 or 15 year olds having sex, but if that's the case, then they need to be involved and carefully monitor the whereabouts of their child. Almost all teenagers have sex, it happens. It's wrong to condemn either of these girls for expressing something natural like sexuality, as many teens do. And it's wrong for these vindictive parents to be ruining Kaitlyn's life over this.

[Jinger Jar]

This just makes me so, so angry. Ten bucks they would never have lifted a finger over a senior boy. Hopefully this ties up some laws, as some of you mentioned - but meanwhile a bunch of innocent people have to suffer, most particularly a girl who did absolutely nothing wrong. If she winds up a sex offender, I will be spitting mad.

The Megan's Law registry in California contains plenty of men who, as teens, were arrested at the behest of their girlfriends' parents over an age difference. Sometimes the difference is a matter of weeks, like the guy turned 19 two weeks before his girlfriend turned 16. It happens a lot more than people realize.

[Guest]

Apparently the accused young woman rejected an "extremely lenient" plea bargain today.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/24/justice/f ... ?hpt=hp_t2

The victim is 14 (contrary to some reports saying 15) and thus over a year too young to legally consent to sex.

The victim's parents also gave an interview where they say that the gender of the woman was not a factor. They say that they had warned their daughter's girlfriend twice to stop and that the 18 year old helped their daughter sneak out of the house one night. They say that they turned to the law as a last resort.

It seems like this case will go to trial. I really wish that students were taught statutory rape laws in high school. I'm sure that neither girl thought they were doing anything illegal, but if the victim's parents are telling the truth, I don't blame them for going to the authorities.

[Ralar]

Apparently the accused young woman rejected an "extremely lenient" plea bargain today.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/24/justice/f ... ?hpt=hp_t2

The victim is 14 (contrary to some reports saying 15) and thus over a year too young to legally consent to sex.

The victim's parents also gave an interview where they say that the gender of the woman was not a factor. They say that they had warned their daughter's girlfriend twice to stop and that the 18 year old helped their daughter sneak out of the house one night. They say that they turned to the law as a last resort.

It seems like this case will go to trial. I really wish that students were taught statutory rape laws in high school. I'm sure that neither girl thought they were doing anything illegal, but if the victim's parents are telling the truth, I don't blame them for going to the authorities.

Thr reports I've read, including the arrest report, indicate the first sexual encounter between the girls occurred shortly after Kate tuned 18 and shortly before the younger girl turned 15. I believe there is a 3 year 4 months or 3 year 7 month age difference. The arrest report also indicates the younger girl ran away from home and the Kate let her spend the night at her house.

Clearly, Kate broke the law. But, it is a law that needs to be changed. The younger girl's parents should have contacted Kate's parents. This should have been resolved between the families.

The "extremely lenient" plea bargain included 2 years house arrest, 1 year probation, and a permanent criminal record, including a guilty plea for child abuse and the L&L arrest. That record would not allow Kate to pursue hr dream of becoming a nurse and would severely limit her employment opportunities. Would you hire someone who pleaded guilty to child abusea and had a L&L arrest? The you her girl's parents are well on their way to ruining Kate's life.

[lawlifelgbt]

They can't get married in FL, so why hold lesbians to equal legal standards if they don't have equal legal rights? The irony here is that these really homophobic people are treating her, legally, as if they were a straight couple.

[meda]

They can't get married in FL, so why hold lesbians to equal legal standards if they don't have equal legal rights? The irony here is that these really homophobic people are treating her, legally, as if they were a straight couple.

I don't understand this. The younger girl was too young to give consent. If this had been an 18 year old boy and a 14 year old girl, the girl would still be too young to give consent. The 18 year old, regardless of gender, would be breaking the law. There have been no report that this couple wanted to get married, they were dating...which is not illegal for same sex couples in Florida if both parties are able to consent to the relationship.

I agree that same sex couples should be able to marry...but not being able to do so does not mean that gays and lesbians shouldn't be held to the same legal standards as straight people. Would you make the same arguement if the 18 year old had assaulted the 14 year old? Stole her wallet?

[Coconut Flan]

I think my views of teens too young to consent to sex will always be colored by what happened to a friend's son. He was seduced by an adult woman. It caused no end of heartache for the family. He was too young to hear how much she loved him and couldn't live without him. It basically ruined his life for many years until he finally got old enough and mature enough to see what had truly happened. Encouraging or aiding someone to run away or lie to parents is definitely not a good sign and in many states is contributing to the delinquency of a minor. I can see the parents wanting the disruption to end. Yes, it's definitely tough on the eighteen year old and many eighteen year olds aren't mature enough to grasp the consequences of their actions. It's incumbent on parents to try to explain the legal consequences of becoming an adult in the eyes of the law.

[laura oz]

This happened to my step son in South Carolina. The girl's mother had heard from dear step son that we had a little extra money, and she called and said she would keep quiet about the relationship if certain help was given to her. The kids had taken pics on their cell phones, so the police had him dead to rights. Thank God for good lawyers. And it was the strangest thing y'all, the woman and her daughter disappeared after we made our allegations, so he couldn't face his accuser in court. What a nightmare. The prosecutor decided to go ahead with the case anyway, but dss got probation and expungement. Those damn pictures :pull-hair: I told him to check drivers licences in the future. And I wasn't kidding.