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Man sentenced to 1 year for vandalism at LGBTQ+ youth center in Fairview Park

The judge also said she would consider a motion for early release.

FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio — Michael Freshwater, a 31-year-old Fairview Park man, has been sentenced to 1 year behind bars after previously pleading guilty to charges connected to vandalism at the Colors+ Youth Center on Lorain Road.

The judge said, however, that she would also consider a motion for judicial release as she reviews his behavior in jail.

“If I see that you’re not doing the right things, I’m going to deny that motion,” the judge said. “But I’m putting it on the record today in a journal entry that I’m not foreclosing the opportunity for you to be granted an early release so that you can come and get the services that we do have to offer you.”

She also ordered Freshwater to pay $2,200 in restitution.

Freshwater was arrested back in July for the incident in which authorities say the LGBTQ+ center was “vandalized with spray paint” with a “racist message.”

Surveillance video of the incident can be viewed below:

"There is no place in our society for hateful ideologies that threaten members of our community,” Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley said in a previous statement after Freshwater pleaded guilty. “We will always defend those who endure ethnic intimidation, and this type of despicable behavior will not be tolerated."

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