OSHAWA -- Jane Currie (left) and Anji Dimitriou say they were attacked outside their son's school because they are lesbians. The couple suffered cuts and bruises after an attack last Monday at Gordon B. Attersley elementary school. Nov. 7, 2008
No hate crime charges in connection with attack on lesbian couple
OSHAWA -- The man charged with assaulting a lesbian couple outside of a local school will not be charged with a hate crime.
On Nov. 3 several witnesses reported a man physically assaulted and verbally abused two women in front of Gordon B. Attersley Public School on Attersley Drive.
A man arrested at the scene was charged with two counts of assault cause bodily harm.
According to a news release from Durham Regional Police a number of community agencies and citizens have since contacted police demanding additional charges be laid under the hate crime provisions of the Criminal Code.
The case was looked at, witnesses were interviewed and investigators consulted with the Crown Attorney's office and the office of the Attorney General. The acts do not meet the narrow definitions of hate crime under Sections 318 or 319 under the Criminal Code, the release said.
Mark Scott has been charged with two counts of assault cause bodily harm. His next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 8.