Idaho man accused of brutally beating trans woman his wife saw in an Oregon bathroom
An Idaho man faces assault charges in Oregon after a bloody attack on a transgender woman over the weekend, according to local media reports.
A probable cause statement accuses Fred Costanza, a 37-year-old from Blackfoot, Idaho, of punching the transgender victim repeatedly in the face after the victim used a women’s bathroom on Aug. 24 at Agate Beach State Park in coastal Newport, Oregon, the Newport News Times reports.
Newport police arrested Costanza on assault, menacing and disorderly conduct charges after the alleged attack and booked him at the Lincoln County Jail, according to the newspaper.
The affidavit said the victim’s skull was fractured and her jaw was broken at multiple points after Costanza hit her more than 10 times before he left the site of the attack with a woman, the Oregonian reports.
The News Times reports that the victim was “hospitalized at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland and was told by doctors there she needs several facial reconstructive surgeries after the attack.”
NewsLincolnCounty reports that, according to a GoFundMe page supporting the victim, “Costanza’s female companion falsely told him the victim had been harassing her.” The News Times reported that the GoFundMe said Costanza’s “wife shared the women’s restroom with the victim, and then came out to complain to her husband about being harassed by a man in the women’s bathroom.”
On Thursday, a local grand jury also indicted Costanza on a bias charge — “a felony when a person intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes physical injury to another person because of the suspect’s perception of the victim’s race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or national origin,” KATU reports.
Supporters of the victim congregated outside the courthouse this week to denounce the alleged crime against the victim, who was homeless and had recently moved from Utah to Oregon, according to the TV station
“I’m sad. I’m angry. I’m embarrassed for my community,” Lincoln County Commissioner Claire Hall told KATU. “The fact that the person was not a local really doesn’t make a lot of difference. It certainly doesn’t lessen (her) suffering.”
Members of the local clergy also showed their support.
“Can we come together and say that hate is wrong, that violence is wrong?” asked Pastor Bob Barrett of Yachats Community Presbyterian Church, according to KATU. “The type of violence that we saw last week is wrong.”
The victim was released from the hospital in Portland on Wednesday and testified in court Thursday, according to NewsLincolnCounty, which reported that she spoke with her supporters and “had some difficulty in communicating due to her injuries but expressed strong gratitude for the show of community support. She said she has a safe place to stay in Portland for now.”
Costanza is still in jail and set to appear in court next week to face the charges, the Oregonian reports.
This story was originally published August 30, 2019 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Idaho man accused of brutally beating trans woman his wife saw in an Oregon bathroom."
