The Florida judge overseeing the case against accused sex offender Kaitlyn Hunt “is prejudiced and biased against” the 18-year-old, her attorney claims in a motion filed Monday seeking to have Circuit Court Judge Robert L. Pegg disqualified from the case. Hunt was arrested in February and charged with two felony counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a child for her sexual affair with a 14-year-old. The case got widespread national attention last month after Hunt’s parents launched an online campaign claiming their daughter is the victim of homophobic hatred.

Hunt’s attorney Julia Graves argued in the motion filed Monday in Indian River County Circuit Court that Judge Pegg’s decision last week to set a Sept. 9 trial date for the case indicates that Hunt “will not receive a fair trial” because of the judge’s alleged prejudice. The motion says the judge “singled out the Defendant from all the other pending cases on his dockets,” moving Hunt’s trial ahead of other cases without consulting her attorneys. Graves writes in the motion that she learned of the judge’s decision only because of a story at the Vero News web site.

Graves has sought to delay her client’s trial. The motion accuses Judge Pegg of unfairly siding with prosecutors: “This case is being singled out by the State due to the fact the relationship involved was between two girls attending high school together. … The pushing forward of this particular case confirms the prejudice with which this case is being pursued by the state.” Judge Pegg “has already sided with the State of Florida and departed from his role as a neutral and impartial trier of fact,” the motion says.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL TEXT OF THE MOTION

The charges against Hunt stem from her involvement with a 14-year-old freshman at Sebastian River High School, where Hunt was a senior before her graduation earlier this month. According to the arrest affidavit in the case, Hunt admitted having sex with the girl — a felony in Florida, where the legal age of consent is 16. The first time, the two girls met in a school restroom, where they had sex in a toilet stall; in January, the 14-year-old ran away from home and spent the night having sex at Hunt’s home. The Vero News reports:

She was arrested in February, but her case did not gain media attention until May when her family took to social media networks in an attempt to pressure the State Attorney’s Office to drop the charges.
State Attorney Bruce Colton offered a plea deal that would have had Hunt plead to one count of child abuse and serve no time in prison. …
Hunt declined the plea deal and, instead, decided to face a jury of her peers.

PREVIOUSLY AT VIRALREAD:

• May 31: Local Gay-Rights Group Won’t Support Kaitlyn Hunt Case
• May 28: ‘Beat Her Ass!’ Beach Fight Video Purports to Show Kaitlyn Hunt