Woman gets 5 to 10 months in group attack on gay men
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A police chief’s daughter has been sentenced to five to 10 months in jail in an attack on a gay couple that prompted Philadelphia to expand its hate crime laws to include sexual orientation.
Jurors convicted 25-year-old Kathryn Knott of simple assault and two other misdemeanors in the September 2014 attack, which occurred as she and her friends from suburban Bucks County were celebrating a birthday in downtown Philadelphia.
Witnesses said someone shouted a gay slur, sparking a fight that left one victim with a broken jaw. Knott insisted that she moved toward the fight to intervene, but the judge found that she threw a punch at one victim and walked away while the other lay bleeding in the street.
Two male co-defendants got probation after pleading guilty.