May 22, 2013
Contact: Gail Colletta
561.305.4959
Lake Monroe, FL— May 22, 2013.
“Free Kate” Campaign Highlights Grievous Wrongs in Sex Offender Scheme.
In the week since taking their campaign to social media, the parents of high school senior Kaitlyn Hunt have made the nation and much of the world aware of their daughter’s situation. Shortly after turning 18, Kate was prosecuted for an existing consensual relationship with a fellow student who was several years younger than her. She is now facing up to 15 years in prison and a slot on the sex offender registry if she doesn’t accept a plea deal.
Strictly by virtue of turning 18, Kate went from someone involved in an innocuous high school relationship to a sexual predator. As a registered sex offender, Kate will be restricted as to where she can live, her employment options will be very limited, if she has children, she will likely not be able to attend their activities or take them to the park. In the case of most sex offenders, these punishments endure for life.
The “Free Kate” campaign has garnered significant support worldwide. Their Facebook page already has tens of thousands of fans and a petition started on Change.org just broke 150,000 signatures. The support is indicative of the shifting public sentiment that the sex offender laws have simply gone too far and are ruining the lives of low-level offenders and those who pose little risk to public safety, while diluting attention that should be focused on those who actually do pose a threat.
A registry that equally punishes consensual with non-consensual acts, offenses where there is no threat of physical contact with violent ones, first time offenders with habitual criminals and a registry that would impose the same sanctions on Kate Hunt as it would on Ariel Castro is wrong!
The Florida Action Committee strongly encourages everyone to read the Human Rights Watch Report and become informed of this great injustice.
Yesterday, the New York Times published a piece which categorized the sex offender laws appropriately. It stated, “[i]n the past 25 years, the laws governing sex offenses have gone from punitive to draconian to senseless.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/22/opinion/sex-offender-village.html?_r=0) .
After speaking with Kate’s father yesterday, the Florida Action Committee has committed our assistance to the Free Kate campaign and hopefully correcting the grievous wrong that is about to happen to Kate, as it has for hundreds of thousands of people on the registry nationwide.
Florida Action Committee (FAC), founded in 2006, is a state-wide consortium of concerned citizens and professionals whose purpose is to promote the prevention of sexual abuse while preserving the safety and dignity of all citizens through carefully structured laws targeting the truly violent, forced, and/or dangerous predatory acts of sex. FAC believes that many aspects of the current approach to sex offenders seriously undermine justice and actually increase the threat of sexual assault against others, particularly children. FAC opposes a publicized registry of sex offenders and seeks to bring an end to the humiliation of people who have already paid for their crimes. FAC asserts that only by supporting justice for all people—offenders and victims alike can a truly safe society be built and secured for all Americans.
Recent Comments