Friday, 24 May, 2013 17:59Last Updated on Friday, 24 May, 2013 18:02Written by admin0 Comments
Kaitlyn Hunt, the 18-year-old Florida girl who made international headlines after being charged with felonies for her same-sex relationship with a 15-year-old peer, has refused a plea deal offered by the state attorney’s office, according to CBS affiliate WPEC.
Hunt will appear in court June 20, and could face 15 years in prison if convicted.
In a statement obtained by The Huffington Post, Hunt’s attorney, Julia Graves, wrote, “This is a situation of two teenagers who happen to be of the same sex involved in a relationship. If this case involved a boy and girl, there would be no media attention to this case. … If this incident occurred 108 days earlier when she was 17, we wouldn’t even be here.”
“There are colleges that will not let felons do certain things, or child abuse charges, where you can’t supervise field trips or your own children later, you can’t participate in things,” Graves said in a news conference Wednesday. “These are things that will certainly affect her future if she takes this current plea offer.”
“This is a life sentence for behavior by teenagers that is all too common, whether they are male or female, gay or straight. High-school relationships may be fleeting, but felony convictions are not,” the ACLU statement read.
According WPTV, Charles Sullivan Jr., an attorney for the family of Hunt’s girlfriend, said that whether Hunt has received unfair treatment is not the matter at hand. “The statute clearly prohibits minors from having sexual relations with adults. The consent of the minor is not an issue, nor should it be an issue. That’s the message in this case, that a crime was committed, and it’s being prosecuted,” Sullivan told the station.
In statements posted to a Facebook group supporting the accused teen, Hunt’s parents allege that their daughter’s relationship with her girlfriend, who was 14 when they began dating, was known to the other girl’s parents. They implied that the other girl’s parents waited until Hunt turned 18 to press charges.
“These people never came to us as parents, never tried to speak to us … and tell us they had a problem with the girls dating,” Kaitlyn Hunt’s mother, Kelley Hunt-Smith, wrote. “They were out to destroy my daughter. [They] feel like my daughter ‘made’ their daughter gay.”
Slate’s Emily Bazelon says of the case: I can see why a 14-year-old’s parents would be wary of her 18-year-old boyfriend. But if the law treats that boy as a criminal, then why not the 18-year-old girlfriend? Maybe … parental wariness just shouldn’t translate into criminal charges in a case involving two high school students and a three or four-year age gap.
Thursday, 23 May, 2013 20:23Last Updated on Thursday, 23 May, 2013 20:23Written by admin0 Comments
A teenager was arrested on Thursday after his two younger brothers, ages 4 and 10, were found stabbed to death at the family’s home in West Point, Utah, Wednesday night, police said.
Davis County Sheriff Todd Richardson said the 15-year-old suspect appeared to work alone and is being held at the Farmington Bay Youth Detention Center.
“The manner of death appears to be consistent with penetrating knife wounds, however, the official cause of death will be determined by the Medical Examiner’s Office,” Richardson said in a media release.
The boys’ mother called the Davis County Sheriff’s Office at 7:36 p.m. after she returned home and found her 4-year-old son was dead. She reported that her 10- and 15-year-olds were missing.
Officers searched the house and found the 10-year-old’s body. The eldest brother wasn’t located until shortly before midnight. He appeared to be in good condition, but was taken to the hospital for evaluation, police said.
The case is being investigated as a homicide. The county attorney’s office is working with authorities on whether to charge him as an adult or a juvenile.
The suspect’s name, which was originally reported by local papers, is being withheld because he is a minor. He had been placed in charge of the younger boys while their mother took some of her other children to a dance recital, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
Lindsey Caballero, a neighbor and family friend, told the Associated Press that the 15-year-old was the couple’s oldest and biological son. The couple had had six children, four of whom were adopted, including the victims.
The father was away on active military duty and has reportedly been notified.
