Judge upholds police chief’s daughter’s sentence for gay bashing charge

Philadelphia (AP) – A judge has refused to cut a jail sentence imposed on a suburban police chief’s daughter in a group attack on a gay couple that prompted Philadelphia to add sexual orientation to its hate crime laws.

Kathryn Knott will continue to serve a five-to-10-month jail term for simple assault and other misdemeanors.

Common Pleas Judge Roxanne Covington says that’s not excessive considering the injuries to both the victims and the city’s image.

25-year-old Knott has been in jail for just over a month.

Defense lawyer William J. Brennan argues that Knott deserves the probation that her two male co-defendants received.

But Covington says she declined that plea offer and went to trial.

She found “a complete disconnect” between Knott’s statements and the severity of the 2014 crime.

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