''They are happy about the seriousness of the charges. They have waited a long time for this day to come.''
Susanne Gustin, legal representative for a Salt Lake gay couple, David James Bell and his partner, Dan Fair. The men suffered a brutal beating from their neighbors in July of 2008. Apparently, Bell had been invited to party at the neighbors' home, but went back to his house to get mixer for drinks. But while he was there, two young children from the neighbors' home came over and asked for something to drink. As he was giving them some Kool-Aid, one mother, Lulu Latu, noticed that the children had gone missing. She found them at Bell's, and assumed he had kidnapped them for molestation or somesuch because he was telling them they were "beautiful." She began assaulting him, and then several others from the party came over to beat both Bell and Fair. Bell's head was repeated hit on the concrete, and Fair was hit in the head with a television. They have suffered broken facial bones, and permanent hearing loss as a result. Police pursued kidnapping charges against the gay couple instead of charging Latu's family for felony assault. Finally, after a year and a half, police have charged seven with a variety of crimes. (Desert News)
