VERO BEACH, Florida (CNN) — Kaitlyn Hunt, the 19-year-old who has been jailed in Florida over a sexual relationship she had with a 14-year-old girl, pleaded no contest Thursday to five charges as part of a deal brokered by prosecutors and her attorneys.
Hunt pleaded no contest to two counts of misdemeanor battery, misdemeanor contributing to the dependency of a child and two counts of felony interference with child custody.
The felony charges originate from the times she picked up the 14-year-old against the girl’s parents’ wishes.
Hunt has been in jail since August 20 for violating a court order not to contact the alleged victim.
Under the terms of the agreement, Hunt will be sentenced to four months in jail, to be followed by two years of house arrest with electronic monitoring, and nine months of monitored probation after that, according to prosecutor Brian Workman.
If she has no violations, she will not be a convicted felon under Florida law, and she will have the possibility of sealing her file and having the case expunged after 10 years, he said.
The case garnered attention as Hunt’s lawyers claimed that authorities wouldn’t have gone after her if the situation had involved a male and a female instead of two teenage girls.
But after Thursday’s court hearing, Workman said the case would have been no different if Kaitlyn was a boy.
Hunt’s parents have been critical of the victim’s family for going to police over the relationship, repeating that criticism Thursday.
“If we start arresting kids for having sex or sexting, you might as well turn the high schools into prisons,” they said.
The victim’s family released a statement saying it was never their intent to harm Hunt, and the case was never about gender or sexual orientation.
“It was about age-appropriate relationships and following the rules and laws of our society,” the statement said.
Hunt was 18 when she was charged with two felony counts of lewd and lascivious battery after she was accused of having sexual relations with the girl, who was 14.
In Florida, a person under the age of 16 is not legally able to consent to sex.
The-CNN-Wire
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