Teens admit beating Springfield, IL priest

The two youths charged with beating the Rev. Eugene Costa in Douglas Park on Dec. 21 pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated battery.

The state agreed to seek no more than a three-year prison sentence for Jamie E. Gibson, 17, and Ryan Boyle, 15, when Circuit Judge Leo Zappa sentences them July 19.

Gibson told police he and Boyle had cut through the park and stopped near a bench to smoke a cigarette and rest. An older man, later identified as Costa, walked up to them, started talking and eventually offered them $50 for sex acts, police said Gibson told them.

Gibson allegedly said the man rubbed up against him and touched his leg, causing him to step back. When the man did the same thing again, Gibson punched him, knocking him to the ground. Gibson and Boyle then started kicking him in the head, reports said.