A former go-go dancer at Atlanta gay bar BJ Roosters faces 25-50 years in prison on human trafficking charges and 25 to life on aggravated child molestation charges after being found guilty of luring young people via the internet to his home for sex and also selling them for sex to others.
Steven Lemery was found guilty on Friday, Aug. 24, according to a report in the Douglas County Sentinel.
State Rep. Simone Bell says she signed onto a letter that was provided by several LGBT activists to Fulton Judge Jackson Bedford during Thursday's sentencing hearing seeking leniency for two of the defendants in the anti-gay assault on Brandon White because she wants the case moved to federal court and pave the way for a state hate crime law to be passed in Georgia.
In a press statement released late Thursday, Rep. Bell said she sees the Feb. 4 attack on Brandon White, 20, an openly gay man, "centered in hate due to his sexual orientation."
Charged in the beating are Dorian Moragne, 19, and Darael Demare Williams, 17. A group of LGBT activists are asking Fulton Superior Court Judge Jackson Bedford sentence them probation rather than a lengthy prison sentence.
Christopher Cain, 18, also charged in the attack, pleaded guilty Thursday to the same charges Moragne and Williams pleaded guilty to on May 29: being part of a gang, two counts of aggravated assault, and robbery by force.