A Pine Manor, Florida man was arrested this week on a charge of aggravated animal cruelty, a legal distinction that separates deliberate acts of killing or serious harm from ordinary neglect, after Lee County deputies say he killed two kittens in front of his teenage daughter as a form of punishment. The man, David Charette Jr., 48, was taken into custody after the Lee County Sheriff's Office responded to his home on a report that he was attempting to drown and strike a two-month-old kitten named Luna.
What deputies say they found at the home
Bodycam footage released by the Lee County Sheriff's Office shows the moment deputies arrived at Charette's Pine Manor home. Speaking on camera, Charette maintained that Luna was in perfectly healthy condition. He said he had been giving the kitten a bath because it soiled itself in its cage, and that the kitten cried during the bath.
Witnesses told deputies the killings were used as punishment, tied to the behavior of Charette's teenage daughter. They said he killed the family's kittens whenever she "acted up." Two kittens were killed. A third was injured. Luna was transported to a local animal hospital and is currently recovering.
A pattern going back months, investigators say
The call about Luna led investigators to examine earlier incidents at the same property. The Lee County Sheriff's Office says Charette had allegedly killed two other kittens over the previous year. In one incident, he allegedly smothered a one-month-old kitten with a bleach-soaked rag in June. In another, investigators say he killed a three-month-old kitten with a blow-dryer.
Both animals had been buried in the backyard. A search of the property recovered one of the two.
The sheriff's statement
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno told CBS affiliate WINK that the daughter's role in the case made it particularly disturbing. She had told investigators that when she acted up or got in trouble, her father killed her kittens. Marceno called the allegations sickening.
Charette faces the charge of aggravated animal cruelty following his arrest this week. Luna remains under care at a local animal hospital.