Indiana County District Attorney Pat Dougherty has issued a release that detailed his office’s response to the beating of a mentally-handicapped individual that resulted in four people being arrested and charged.
Doughterty said that the four individuals, 19-year-old Katelyn Lemley of Homer City; 19-year-old Jordan Kinney and 20-year-old Dakota Patterson, both of Indiana; and 18-year-old Cory Blystone of Sagamore were charged with misdemeanor counts of stalking, false imprisonment, simple assault and disorderly conduct, along with a summary charge of harassment. When the video of the beating went viral, Dougherty ordered the state police to obtain arrest warrants for these individuals and take them into custody. He talked about why he wanted it done as quickly as possible.
Dougherty added that his office will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.
As far as the charges go, Dougherty said that the charges were appropriate under current Pennsylvania law, as the state does not have a criminal enhancement for victims that suffer from intellectual or physical disabilities. Dougherty also added that the injuries did not add up to the level of aggravated assault. But he is talking with both State Representative Jim Struzzi and State Senator Joe Pittman to change state laws so that physical and mental disabilities can be added under section 2710 of the crimes code. Struzzi is co-sponsoring a bill from Chester County Representative Kristine Howard to do just that.
