The 14-year-old’s parents sound reasonable in that article. Whether or not they really are, I couldn’t say, but just going by that article I think it sounds like they might have done the right thing. We don’t know their daughter, she might have been a young-acting 14-year-old and the older girl might have been pressuring her. Or maybe not.
Rejecting the deal might be a mistake, but it was ridiculous to make them felony counts. What purpose would be served by handicpping the rest of Hunts life?
The purpose of Teaching Her A Lesson, namely, that justice is blind, dumb as an ass and deaf to the pleadings of outraged humanity.
She was already 18 when they started dating, but even if she hadn’t been there was nothing they could have done until then.
The pleas deal she was offered would not have placed her on the sexual offender registry.
From the CNN article linked by others
One could argue whether this is a lenient plea bargain or not, but it did not require sex offender registry.
That’s the difference between sophomores and seniors in high school. They’re really basically “the same age” as far as dating goes.
A lot of misinformation in the media. Even news stories from yesterday claim Hunt would have been on the sex offender registry.
Somewhat puzzling to me is the paragraph following the one you quoted, from the prosecutor’s statement:
How does pleading guilty to two felony counts allow someone to avoid being a convicted felon? Perhaps the conviction would be expunged if she successfully completed the probabation period? The article doesn’t say.
Also in that article, Hunt’s lawyer says:
THIS. This is what good parents do. No matter what the gender a 14 or 15 year old’s parents can tell him/her no dating (sex or otherwise) an 18 year old and it stands. If the parents have to bring in the law to stop it good for them.
The parents of the 18 year old are at fault for not training their child in the laws of their state on statutory rape.
This case is especially bizarre to me because I went to high school in the late 70’s and early 80’s. At my school the senior girls mostly dated 18 and 19 year old guys. Very often these were relationships that started when the girl was a sophomore and the guy was a senior. The relationship continued after he graduated. A lot of girls in my school married their high school love after finishing high school.
I took a 16 yr old girl to my senior prom. We dated for awhile after I graduated. So yes my 18 year old self dated a 17 year old.
The best outcome will be for Florida to change their laws. If they are throwing teens that just turned 18 into prison for sex. Maybe this case will wake some dumb asses up and a more reasonable law will come from it.
But 18/17 is perfectly legal in Florida. As is 18/16. The law there sets a bright line at age 16. Any lower than 16 and adults cannot legally fuck you.
As much as it would be nice to measure each incident on a case-by-case basis the law does not work that way. There must be clarity so that the adult knows unambiguously what is legal and what is not.
The accused’s family seems to be trying to appeal to something that is little more than she-didn’t-look-that-young. They make a point that the younger girl was physically mature and physically larger than the accused. Doesn’t matter. The law for adults there is no fucking someone under age 16, even if they look older.
Just because something is illegal doesn’t automatically make it wrong. Most people in this thread understand the law, and also understand that it’s bullshit when applied, for example, to consenting high school basketball teammates. Consensual sex between a 14- and 18-year-old shouldn’t result in potentially sending the 18-year-old to prison for 9 years alongside pedophiles, rapists, and other sexual predators.
Adolescent sex needs to stop being a bugaboo. One third of 9th graders (14- and 15-year-olds) have had sexual intercourse. Two thirds of 12th graders. They go to school together – of course some of them are going to be fucking. We should be trying to make it safe – not sending kids to prison or labeling them sex offenders.
Much of the problem is the sentencing. I wouldn’t be happy if my 15 year old was dating a 19 year old. But treating that like hardcore rape or pedos makes no sense.
There should be an entirely different sentence for consensual sex with minors if the older person is under 20. That shouldn’t even be a felony unless the younger person is under 13.
Really the age of consent should be 15. That’s just being realistic.
I like the way my state (Washington), and some others do it - they specify the age difference in months, not years. Doing it that way takes into account these situations where the older person just turned 18 and the younger was almost 16. “Three years difference” becomes, say, “26 months difference”. (The limit here in WA is actually 48 months, which means that a HS senior is unlikely to get in legal trouble for having sex with a HS freshman.)
I see no one answered my question in post 72. I win the thread!
The problem is, they’re not “classmates” but school mates.
If, as reported one was 18 and one was 14, I’d say it’s entirely appropriate that the elder gets charged.
At 18 and 15, I also feel that gap is too big - with a three year gap its easy to see the younger being pressured.
Although if it’s truly judged to be “consensual” (i.e absent bullying or some other sort of undue pressure) then it shouldn’t be a felony (yes I know that theory about too young to consent, but I would reject it as at 15, you are old enough to know your own mind)
I’ve yet to see a child that didn’t change in obvious and substantial ways during their teen years. I find it hard to believe a teacher doesn’t see these changes.
I went to high school in the mid-late 80’s myself. How well I remember the gaggles of Senior men openly “scoping out” the freshman girls as we entered the building on the first day. Most of my classmates were naively flattered by the attention, thinking it meant they were personally attractive, as opposed to just newly available. My older brother was a Senior my Freshman year, and he spent much of his free time chasing his classmates away from my locker.
Young girls these days are a bit more informed, but it’s still true that the difference in social development between a freshman and a Senior is substantial. Heck, I know 40-year-old women who have trouble recognizing the difference between romantic compliments and predatory flattery. I think giving girls until age 15 to catch up is a good call.
It is hard to know the truth of these matters, but I think what we all want is for the matter to be resolved with as little harm to either of the young women involved as possible. The 18 year old girl may be a legal adult, but she’s absolutely as young as you can be and still be an adult. She might be a predator in her heart, seeking a much younger girl because she knews she can manipulate her more easily than a girl her own age. But more likely, she’s just an entitled 18 year old who really really wanted to date the 14 year old and had always gotten whatever she wanted before, so could not conceive of any reason why she should not be able to date the 14 year old.
I’m especially puzzled because the 14 year old claims it was a completely consensual relationship. Granted, one of the things a really skilled predator can do is make their prey think they are doing something consensually, even when they are being subtly manipulated into it, but given the amount of pushback the poor 14 year old is probably getting from her parents, this seems unlikely to be the case. I’ll bet she’s as dismayed and confused by all the legal proceedings as the 18 year old.
I’m just guessing on these points, but I’m comfortable with my guesses. If the law HAS to be involved, I would say that a fair charge might be a misdemeanor with a year’s probation, considering our “offender” is a first time “offender” and the young “victim” says it was a consensual relationship. I’m at a loss why felony charges are being pursued, under the circumstances, seems rather harsh. I can only assume that the only kind of charge available to the DA was a felony charge … and I am having a lot of trouble believing that.
A final bit of irony. The 14 year old’s parents are a mixed-race couple. Sixty years ago, we might have been debating what sort of prison term THEY would have to serve for daring to love one another.
I suppose there’s also the possibility that being gay dramatically reduced her options for romance, and the younger girl was the only other gay girl she had met at school.
It wasn’t a crime until the older one turned 18. They couldn’t go to the cops until then.