Man who fractured transgender woman’s skull for using public restroom sentenced to nearly 6 years
Updated Feb 07, 2020
Lauren Jackson.
By Shane Dixon Kavanaugh | The Oregonian/OregonLive
An Idaho man who brutally beat a transgender woman after she used a women’s bathroom at an Oregon coast park was sentenced Friday to nearly six years in prison.
Fred Costanza, 37, was was convicted by a Lincoln County jury last month of second-degree assault and harassment in the Aug. 24 attack that shattered Lauren Jackson’s jaw and fractured her skull, court records show.
The jury also found Costanza guilty of a first-degree bias crime under Oregon’s newly overhauled hate crime law, which includes protections for those who identify as transgender.
Transgender woman beaten over bathroom use on Oregon coast is healing, flourishing
“I’m in the best place in my life, even after this attack,” Lauren Jackson told The Oregonian/OregonLive. Seth Costanza, her suspected attacker, faces a felony hate crime.
Circuit Judge Sheryl Bachart handed Costanza a 70-month sentence, the mandatory minimum for second-degree assault, a Measure 11 crime, and ordered the defendant pay restitution for the injuries Jackson suffered.
“I feel so supported and validated," Jackson told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “This kind of behavior isn’t OK."
Fred Joseph Costanza (Lincoln County Sheriff's Office)
According to witnesses, Costanza walked over 100 yards across Agate Beach State Recreation Site in Newport to confront Jackson, 29, after she used the women’s public restroom at the park.
The man pulled Jackson by the hair and struck her more than 10 times before leaving the park with his wife, witnesses told police.
Jackson, who was visiting Oregon for the first time, spent the next week in the hospital. She has since settled in the Portland area.
In an interview Friday, Jackson said she hopes to use her experience to “make the world a safer place for transgender people.”
“We all deserve to be able to exist, and to be happy,” she said.
Lauren Jackson.
By Shane Dixon Kavanaugh | The Oregonian/OregonLive
An Idaho man who brutally beat a transgender woman after she used a women’s bathroom at an Oregon coast park was sentenced Friday to nearly six years in prison.
Fred Costanza, 37, was was convicted by a Lincoln County jury last month of second-degree assault and harassment in the Aug. 24 attack that shattered Lauren Jackson’s jaw and fractured her skull, court records show.
The jury also found Costanza guilty of a first-degree bias crime under Oregon’s newly overhauled hate crime law, which includes protections for those who identify as transgender.
Transgender woman beaten over bathroom use on Oregon coast is healing, flourishing
“I’m in the best place in my life, even after this attack,” Lauren Jackson told The Oregonian/OregonLive. Seth Costanza, her suspected attacker, faces a felony hate crime.
Circuit Judge Sheryl Bachart handed Costanza a 70-month sentence, the mandatory minimum for second-degree assault, a Measure 11 crime, and ordered the defendant pay restitution for the injuries Jackson suffered.
“I feel so supported and validated," Jackson told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “This kind of behavior isn’t OK."
Fred Joseph Costanza (Lincoln County Sheriff's Office)
According to witnesses, Costanza walked over 100 yards across Agate Beach State Recreation Site in Newport to confront Jackson, 29, after she used the women’s public restroom at the park.
The man pulled Jackson by the hair and struck her more than 10 times before leaving the park with his wife, witnesses told police.
Jackson, who was visiting Oregon for the first time, spent the next week in the hospital. She has since settled in the Portland area.
In an interview Friday, Jackson said she hopes to use her experience to “make the world a safer place for transgender people.”
“We all deserve to be able to exist, and to be happy,” she said.
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