Massachusetts police charge 3 teenagers in alleged assault of trans teen

Police in Massachusetts have charged three teenagers with assault and battery for allegedly assaulting a transgender boy.

The Gloucester Police Department filed the charges against the unnamed teenagers, two of whom are 17 years old and one of whom is 16 years old, after what it called a “months-long investigation” in a Friday press release.

The department said in the release that the investigation was assigned a hate crime investigator but the evidence did not support hate crime charges.

“Our department conducted a meticulous, thorough, and compassionate investigation, and the resulting charges are consistent with the evidence,” Gloucester Police Chief Edward Conley said in the statement.

Trans teen knew alleged assailants through football

Police responded to report of an assault during a party in a wooded area in Gloucester, approximately 38 miles northeast of Boston, on Aug. 30, according to the press release.

Jasmine Tkaczyk, mother to victim 16-year-old Jayden Tkaczyk, wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post that her son was left with a broken nose after being beaten, kicked into a rock and stomped in the face as the alleged attackers used anti-LGBTQ slurs against him, according to MassLive.

Jasmine Tkaczyk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY.

“One second, I was having fun, the next second, I was on the ground getting my face stomped and beat up,” Jayden told NBC News. “They were just saying the F slur over and over and over as they were punching me and stomping me.”

Jayden, who is a transgender boy, told reporters at the time that he knew his alleged assailants through playing high school football at Gloucester High School.

The charged teens will face a Clark Magistrate hearing to determine if there is probable cause for the charges to proceed.