A Pottsville judge this week would not dismiss any of the charges against a transgender woman accused of assaulting Pottsville firefighters.
On Jan. 15, at the conclusion of a preliminary hearing, Magisterial District Judge James K. Reiley ordered Kate Lynn Blatt to stand trial on several charges
Three firefighters and two police officers testified against Blatt during the 90-minute hearing, which was held in Pottsville.
Their testimony conveyed that Blatt got into an altercation with firefighters on Dec. 23 after a fire on her property was extinguished. Blatt allegedly punched a firefighter in the head, broke the glasses of another firefighter and tried to assault a third firefighter.
Blatt, 36, faces felony and misdemeanor charges, including aggravated assault, simple assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
Neither side had a comment for this story.
In a prior interview, Blatt emphatically denied the charges. She told PGN she acted in self-defense after a Pottsville firefighter touched her breast inappropriately, then other firefighters accosted her.
“They had me pinned to the ground for 20 minutes,” Blatt said. “One of them put his boot on my head at my neck. Another pushed my head down into dirt. Somebody spit in my hair. Another one reached under my clothing to see if I had a penis.”
She also said firefighters misgendered her during the incident. A court document posted online regarding the preliminary hearing also misgendered Blatt.
The case now moves to Schuylkill County Common Pleas Court. As of presstime, a trial date wasn’t scheduled.
Blatt remains free, after a $25,000 bond was posted on Dec. 27. Before the bond was posted, Blatt was incarcerated for four days in a male section of Schuylkill County Prison.
Last year, Blatt received a landmark ruling in her civil-rights suit against Cabela’s Inc. when a federal judge said anti-trans bias is forbidden under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Blatt’s case subsequently was settled for an undisclosed amount of money.