Oregon: Five teenagers sentenced for attacking young gay man in a park
Five teenagers in the US state of Oregon have been sentenced for attacking a 24-year-old gay man in a park.
The crime occurred in the city of Portland during February this year, when the victim had travelled to Vance Park with the intention of having a sexual encounter with a man who he’d met online.
But when he arrived at the park the group of teenagers hit him on the head and repeatedly kicked him after he fell to the ground. They pointed what later were determined to be realistic airsoft guns at him and called him homophobic names, before running off into the darkness.
The defendants, aged between 14 and 19, have received sentences ranging from probation to two and a half years imprisonment.
At least one of the teenagers told police the group attacked the man, in part, because he is gay.
The victim was robbed of his mobile phone, wallet and shoes.
Justin Carey Simms, the only adult in the group, was sentenced last month to one and a half years in prison; the other defendants cannot be named for legal reasons.
