Man Charged With a Hate Crime After Punching Attendees and Police at Delaware Pride Festival
A man who attacked attendees at the Delaware Pride Festival will face hate crime charges: Sean Wiley, 31, is accused of punching a 62-year-old man at the August 11 festival in Dover and groping two other people, a 31-year-old man and 46-year-old woman.
Wiley was drunk and shouting slurs at festivalgoers, says police spokesman Mark Hoffman. Witnesses flagged police and, when they approached, Wiley tried to punch an officer and was arrested.
He was initially charged with three counts of offensive touching, public intoxication, third-degree assault, menacing, disorderly conduct, trespassing and felony resisting arrest. Police later obtained a warrant for the hate crime charge.
Delaware has imposed additional penalties for committing a violent crime motivated by the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation since 2001. The state added similar penalties based on the victim’s actual or perceived gender identity in 2013.
Wiley, who was already on bail when the hate-crime charges were added, turned himself in to the Dover Police Department on August 16. He’s since been released from the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center on another $500 bond.
The Delaware Pride Festival was held at Legislative Hall on August 11, with performers including The Voice contestant Kelsea Johnson, Kelsea Johnson, Earth Radio, Derek Deleqúa and SongBird the Goddess.
