A statement of
probable cause filed in New Mexico district court says an
18-year-old gay man who was badly beaten in Edgewood last
month might have been assaulted because a man at the
party believed the gay teen had touched his buttocks.
William York, 21, and Leroy Segura, 19, have been
charged with aggravated battery, kidnapping, false
imprisonment, and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
A $100,000 cash bond for each man was set by a
district judge on Monday. Two juveniles, a boy and
girl, are also being held in connection to the case.
The statement said York believed the victim
tried to grab his buttocks while they were at a party
at a mobile home the night of July 30. York said he
wanted to "scare" the victim to "make him straight and
to get him to stop acting the way he was," the statement says.
The gay man suffered bleeding on the brain, a
concussion, facial lacerations, and bruising from the
beating, which lasted for hours, state police have
said. York, Segura, and the juvenile male have been charged
under New Mexico's hate-crimes law. (Sirius OutQ News)