In a significant legal development, a registered sex offender in Oregon has been sentenced to 36 months in prison for a violent hate crime attack on a group of naked cyclists in Portland. Robert Earl Houchins, 40, received the multi-year jail term after pleading guilty last month to the attack, which occurred during Pride Month. Prosecutors had initially charged Houchins with eight felonies, including Assault II, which carried a mandatory prison sentence of over five years. However, a plea bargain with the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office resulted in him pleading guilty to a first-degree bias crime and an attempted second-degree assault charge.
The attack took place on June 3, 2023, when a group of nine naked cyclists encountered Houchins. He picked up a three-foot-long metal pipe, approached the cyclists, and directed a homophobic slur at them before striking two of the cyclists across their backs with the metal pipe as they passed. One of the victims assaulted in the attack is gay.
Houchins’ criminal history includes a 2005 guilty plea to two felony sexual abuse charges for multiple attacks on two girls aged 12 and 13 as they walked home from school. He was sentenced to six years in prison and required to register as a sex offender. At that time, Logan County State’s Attorney Tim Huyett revealed disturbing details about Houchins, including his expressed desire to become a serial killer or a Nazi who killed Jews.
Since then, Houchins has accumulated more than 30 felony and misdemeanor convictions, including charges related to arson, theft, failing to register as a sex offender, and sexual abuse, as reported by Oregon Live.
Following his sentencing, Houchins was returned to the Oregon Department of Corrections. Fortunately, neither of the two men attacked by Houchins reported serious injuries. This case highlights the importance of addressing hate crimes and the need for stringent measures against repeat offenders.
