By AP
KALAMAZOO, MI – One of two teens accused of beating a 15-year-old boy because he is gay will spend six to nine months in juvenile detention after pleading guilty to aggravated assault.
The 16-year-old defendant was sentenced Monday in Kalamazoo County Family Court.
Portage's Steve Harmon says he was attacked Aug. 13 in a Portage parking lot. He says his attackers used anti-gay slurs as they struck him about 20 times in the head and face.
The attackers broke Harmon's cheek bone and gave him two black eyes, a swollen lip and scratches.
Police say he apparently was targeted because of his sexual orientation.
The two defendants weren't charged with a hate crime because Michigan's ethnic-intimidation law doesn't address sexual orientation.