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Gay Teen Attacked, Forced To Strip, In Video Posted Online

A suspect faces charges of unarmed robbery and unlawful imprisonment.

Police have arrested a Michigan teen after he allegedly stripped and assaulted another teen in what appears to be an anti-gay hate crime, Detroit Free Press reports.

Muskegon Heights police officers say that 18-year-old Trevon Godbolt, also known as Trevon Taylor, lured his 17-year-old victim to a dark area near Edgewood Elementary School. Called to the scene of a robbery, officers found the victim stripped of his clothes and possessions.

Godbolt, who was arrested at a nearby residence following an anonymous tip, faces charges of unarmed robbery and unlawful imprisonment, which are punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

In a two-minute video of the assault that was reportedly posted by his attackers on social media, Godbolt can be seen beating the victim while berating him with homophobic slurs. The victim, who is then forced to remove his clothes, can be heard begging, "Please stop."

WZZM

"Take the shirt off too," Godbolt instructs. "Take everything off before you leave, even your drawers."

Two women, one of whom is filming the assault, can then be seen chasing the victim, yelling, "Catch him."

The victim was released from a Muskegon Heights hospital after receiving treatment for cuts and bruises, primarily on his face.

"This young man was targeted based on his sexual orientation," says Muskegon County prosecutor D.J. Hilson, noting that Michigan has no laws regarding assault based on sexual orientation. "I would hope that our legislature would use this as an example as to why we need to expand the law and include groups such as this to protect them."

"This type of behavior should not and will not be tolerated in this community," says Muskegon Heights Police Chief Joseph Thomas Jr., who sent a report on the assault to an FBI investigator by request in an effort to get a federal indictment for a hate crime.

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