Trial Begins for Woman Accused of 2014 Philly Gay Bashing

Jury selection began Wednesday for the trial of Kathryn Knott, the woman accused of being part of the "clean cut" gang who allegedly beat up a gay couple in Center City in September 2014. Knott faces charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, conspiracy and reckless endangerment NBC Philadelphia reports.

Knott, whose father is a suburban Philadelphia police chief, hails from Bucks County. She will stand trial alone as her two co-defendants Kevin Harrigan and Phillip Williams both accepted plea deals from the court which resulted in probation, fines and community service hours to be served at an LGBTQ organization.

Bucks County Courier Times reports that Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Roxanna Covington placed a gag order for the duration of the trial following jury selection Wednesday, preventing attorneys from speaking to the media.

"From the moment the incident occurred, Kathryn has always maintained her complete innocence," Knott's attorney Louis Busico said in October. "At no point did she assault or disrespect anyone."

And while Busico may claim his client didn't disrespect the victims of the beating, her history of anti-gay behavior on social media will come up during her trial. Last month, Philly.com reported that Michael Barry, chief of the District Attorney's Central Division said during pre-trial motions that Knott had posted "a number of tweets which clearly indicate a general dislike to a disgust of gays and lesbians and people of other backgrounds."

Knott's anti-gay tweets in question include:?

"@g0_nads he's gonna rip me today for my hair..just wait. #dyke"

If convicted of all charges, Knott's sentence could be as high as 34 to 68 years in prison.