Kaitlyn Hunt on Friday rejected a plea deal, deciding to face felony charges in connection with an alleged underage relationship with a fellow female student.

Hunt began dating the student 3 years younger than herself when she was 17. After she turned 18 in February, her girlfriend's parents went to the authorities, who arrested the teen and charged her with the felony of “sexual battery on a person 12-16 years old.” After officials at Sebastian River High School refused to expel Hunt, the parents appealed to the school board and had her expelled.

She had until Friday to accept a plea deal that would allow her to avoid registering as a sex offender if she pleads guilty to a charge of child abuse.

Julia Graves, Hunt's attorney, attempted to lessen the charges. On Thursday, she presented a case to prosecutors involving an 18-year-old male who allegedly had sex with a 15-year-old female. His final charge was lessened to a misdemeanor battery case and he was sentenced to one year probation.

On Friday, Graves released a statement on behalf of Hunt.

“This is a situation of two teenagers who happen to be of the same sex involved in a relationship. If this case involved a boy and a girl, there would be no media attention to this case. If this incident occurred 108 days earlier when she was 17, we wouldn't even be here.”

In previous statements, prosecutors have said that whether the girlfriend gave consent to the relationship was irrelevant because the age of consent in Florida is 18.

If found guilty, Hunt faces up to 30 years in prison, according to NBC affiliate WPTV.