WASHINGTON – The son of Virginia Congressman Jim Moran has pleaded guilty to assaulting his girlfriend, who called the incident an accident, outside a Columbia Heights bar earlier this month.
Patrick Moran pleaded guilty to simple assault and he was sentenced Wednesday to one year of probation. He must attend domestic violence counseling and perform community service, according to D.C. Superior Court records.
He was arrested on a felony assault domestic violence charge Dec. 1 outside The Getaway, in the 3400 block of 14th Street NW, after police saw him grab his girlfriend by the back of her head and “slam her head into the metal trash can cage in front of the nightclub,” according to court records.
The altercation left Moran’s girlfriend bleeding heavily from her nose. Her nose and right eye were swollen and she was taken to a hospital for treatment, court records say.
Moran left his father’s re-election campaign earlier this year after being caught on tape discussing how to commit voter fraud.
Moran’s girlfriend Kelly Hofmann released a statement calling the Dec. 1 altercation “an accident that has been blown out of proportion.”
“The statements in the police report are inaccurate. Pat and I were arguing, one of my high heels gave out, and I fell into the side of a trashcan. On impact, I fractured my nose. False conclusions were made as a result,” Hofmann says in her statement.
Jim Moran, a Democrat, issued a written statement to WTOP responding to his son’s guilty plea.
“Patrick and Kelly are both good kids and I hope their privacy will be respected. They look forward to putting this embarrassing situation behind them,” the statement says.
WTOP’s Hank Silverberg contributed to this report. Follow @hsilverbergwtop and @WTOP on Twitter.
(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
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