Thursday, October 08, 2009

Gay basher pleads guilty to hate crime

Eric Patten (pictured) pleaded guilty to punching and pushing two lesbians in Provincetown after yelling anti-gay epithets.

Boston Herald reports:
(Orleans, Massachusetts) Eric Patten was sentenced in Orleans District Court on Thursday to serve 30 days of a one-year jail term and two years of probation. He was also ordered to comply with a civil rights injunction that bars him from violating the civil rights of anyone because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation. Prosecutors asked for a 2½-year sentence with six months to serve, but the judge took into account Patten’s treatment for psychological problems and his lack of a criminal record. The Cape Cod Times reports that