UPDATE: The Indian River County Sheriff's Office is holding a press conference today at 1:30 p.m. at 4055 41st Avenue in Vero Beach. Those who are supporting Kaitlyn are being encouraged to attend and be a part of a peaceful rally by wearing t-shirts, and carrying signs.
A star student at Sebastian River High School was expelled from school and arrested on "lewd and lascivious battery of a child 12 to 16 years old" charges because of her same-sex relationship with a fellow student.
Kaitlyn Hunt, 18, a cheerleader and basketball player at the school, had been dating her 15-year-old girlfriend, a teammate on the basketball team. But when the relationship became public, everything began to unravel for Kaitlyn.
She was kicked off the team because the coach allegedly feared having a gay couple on the team would bring unwanted "drama." And, once her girlfriend's parents found out about the relationship, they called police, who showed up to the Hunt's home to arrest Kaitlyn, which led to her expulsion from Sebastian River High.
Her parents are fighting the charges as nothing more than simple bigotry.
Kaitlyn's mother, Kelley Hunt Smith, started a "Free Kate" Facebook page, which has swelled to over 14,000 members. The family has also started an online "Stop The Hate" petition, which so far has over 40,000 signatures.
The family says Kaitlyn's girlfriend's parents are pressing charges because they simply can't handle their daughter being in a same-sex relationship.
"They are out to destroy my daughter, because they feel like she 'made' their daughter gay," Hunt explains in a Facebook letter. "They see being gay as wrong and they blame my daughter. Of course, I see it 100% differently. I don't see or label these girls as gay. They are teenagers in high school experimenting with their sexuality - with mutual consent. And even if their daughter is gay, who cares? She is still their daughter."
The letter goes on to describe the frightening moments when police showed up to the family's door to arrest their young daughter:
