Kaitlyn Hunt, the former high school student who carried on a sexual relationship with a fellow student four years her junior, has agreed to serve four months in jail as part of a plea deal.
The deal also calls for Hunt, now 19, to spend two years under house arrest. Authorities will have the power to monitor her phone and computer to make sure that she is not attempting to contact her former girlfriend. In exchange, Hunt will not have to register as a sex offender, according to The Huffington Post.
The acceptance of the plea brings to an end months of intense media scrutiny over the case, which galvanized gay rights groups who claimed that Hunt was treated harshly because the relationship was between two girls. Hunt’s parents have stood by their daughter, and the family maintains that the relationship was consensual–as does the other girl.
However, the two girls were on opposite sides of Florida’s age of consent law, which gave the parents of Hunt’s girlfriend the right to seek state intervention after learning that the couple had engaged in sex on several occasions. Hunt was charged with lascivious battery on a minor.
She was initially free on bail, but was re-arrested in August after authorities learned that she had violated the conditions of her release by repeatedly contacting her ex-girlfriend and continuing the relationship. (RELATED: Teen lesbian back in jail after continuing affair with underage lover)
Hunt’s attorney told a local news channel that she hopes to lobby legislators to modify the law.
“Kaitlyn, her family, friends and supporters never want to see another teenager in this kind of situation,” said the attorney.
