Lesbian Cheerleader Still Having Contact With Underage Girlfriend: Prosecutor
Teen charged for sex with underage girlfriend still texting her, cops say.
Aug. 16, 2013 -- A Florida teenager who was charged earlier this year for having a sexual relationship with her underage girlfriend is being accused of additional felony behavior after she allegedly continued to text and liaise with the girl in recent months.
Kaitlyn Hunt, a 19-year-old recent high school graduate who began dating her then-14-year-old cheerleading teammate in 2012, is accused of exchanging more than 20,000 texts with the younger girl since she was initially charged in the case, according to authorities.
Hunt is charged with lewd and lascivious conduct on a child ages 12 to 14 for the sexual relationship she had with the younger girl, whose identity has not been made public. She has denied the charges.
Prosecutors in the case filed a motion in Indian River County, Fla., this week stating that Hunt and the girl sent text messages, lewd and lascivious photographs, and videos of Hunt, including one of her pleasuring herself.
The state also said the pair met for sex numerous times. The prosecutor's office declined further comment on the case today.
Hunt's attorney, Julia Graves, said in a statement to ABC News that the new allegations have not yet been proven.
"As with any high profile case there is great public interest in the various details of the investigation," Graves said. "However, it is customary as the process unfolds that allegations will be made, but they must be proven and substantiated in a court of law."
An attorney representing the younger girl's family released a statement today condemning the continued contact between the pair.
"The parents were totally unaware of any communications between the defendant and their daughter. It recently came to [the familiy's] attention and they immediately went to authorities who investigated that Kaitlyn Hunt had supplied an iPad to not only communicate with their daughter, but to also provide explicit images over this device. This was in direct violation of the pretrial conditions of her release," attorney Charles Sullivan Jr. told ABC.
"The parents believe that someone who truly cared for their daughter would not be engaging in this type of activity," he said.
The prosecutor's office declined to say whether they would seek jail time for Hunt given the additional accusations filed this week. A court hearing will be set based on the motion, the office said.
Prosecutors offered Hunt a second plea deal in recent weeks that the family is still considering, though they would like to see a plea deal that reduces the charges from felony to misdemeanor, according to a statement Hunt's mother made on Facebook.
"It is still a FELONY plea," Kelley Hunt Smith wrote online. "They are wanting THREE years of a felony type probation to include curfews, 500 feet away from the other girl, including the school where her sister attends, so she wouldn't be able to attend any family functions, or her sister's graduation."
The girls were 18 and 14 when they became sexually involved, according to an arrest affidavit by the county Sheriff's Department.
Hunt's uncle, Andrew Gay, told ABC News in May that the pair was part of the same friend group when they became romantically involved. According to Gay, the high school girls basketball coach at their school found out about the relationship, told the younger girl's mother, who also works as a coach, and kicked Hunt off the team, according to Hunt's family.
The younger girl's parents then contacted police, according to the Hunt family.
The police then set up a phone sting operation in which the 14-year-old called Hunt and asked her details about their relationship, according to the affidavit. Police arrested Hunt in February based on the details the girls discussed on the phone, according to the document. She was charged and spent 24 hours in jail before posting bond.
"Our family's perspective on this is that Kaitlyn made a poor choice, but this is something that could have been dealt with between families," Gay said.