Two of the three twenty-somethings who were charged with the gay-bashing of a same-sex couple last year will not serve any time in jail. One will stand trial.
Kathryn Knott, Philip Williams, and Kevin Harrigan reportedly have been offered a plea deal that includes community service and probation but zero time in jail. The three were charged with the Sept. 11, 2014 anti-gay hate attack against a Philadelphia same-sex couple that landed one of the men in the hospital with a broken jaw that had to be wired shut for nearly two months.
The trio of accused hate attackers were arrested September 24, 2014 and charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, and recklessly endangering another person (REAP), for the attack. Williams and Harrigan were also charged with conspiracy.Â
Today in court Williams and Harrigan accepted a plea deal that, as Philly Gay News reports, includes community service and probation but no jail time. Kathryn Knott reportedly rejected the deal and will stand trial.
“Kevin Harrigan and Philip Williams pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy and aggravated assault,” Victor Fiorillo at Philadelphia Magazine reports. “Neither man will spend a day in jail. The guilty plea was given in exchange for a sentence of probation.”
Knott did not plead guilty and will go to trial October 30.
WXPN’s Robert Drake via Facebook notes that Harrigan will receive three years probation and Williams five years. Both, according to Drake, will have to perform 200 hours each community service at an LGBT facility and cannot enter Center City until their probation has expired.
Local ABC News Affiliate WPVI confirms those details, adding, “The plea deal was at the wish of the victims, according to the district attorney’s office. The victims said they felt safe in Center City before the attack.”
In a hearing last December, one of the victims, who was hospitalized with facial injuries that included a broken jaw from the attack, testified in court for an hour, accusing Harrigan of asking him the night of the attack, “Is that your fucking boyfriend?,” and, “So you’re a dirty, fucking faggot?” He also told the court Knott “hit me in the face and just kept calling me a ‘dirty, fucking faggot,’ ‘faggot, faggot.'”
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This is a breaking news story. Details may change. This report may be updated.