Man Pleads Guilty for Gay Bashing in Buffalo

A Buffalo, N.Y., man pleaded guilty on Monday to felony assault for beating a gay man outside a bar on August 3, 2008, according to the Buffalo News.

Joshua Holts, a 26-year-old supermarket meat supervisor, faces up to seven years in prison. He will remain free on previously posted bail until his sentencing hearing on January 11, 2010.

Holts was caught on surveillance cameras repeatedly punching his 48-year-old victim while shouting antigay slurs at him outside a bar in Springville, a village in the Buffalo suburbs. According to WKBW-TV, Scott suffered a fractured skull, nine broken bones in his face, a ruptured ear drum, and a detached retina.

Prosecutor Robin J. Deubler said the victim, who is only identified by his first name, Scott, had just undergone his fourth surgery to correct his left eye damage and partial facial paralysis. Scott was a carpet installer from Atlanta, visiting his mother who lived in the Buffalo area.

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