Teens plead guilty in dog’s death

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PRESQUE ISLE – Two Presque Isle teenagers, who were accused of cutting, beating and stabbing a dog to death in a case that drew global attention, pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of animal cruelty and theft by unauthorized taking.

Benjamin Benedict, 16, was sentenced in 2nd District Court immediately for his role in the crime, a misdemeanor.

The sentencing of Joshua Dunn, 17, was delayed until Aug. 4, pending a diagnostic evaluation.

Another 17-year-old, also allegedly involved in the incident, was not a part of Thursday’s hearing. His name has not been released.

Benedict and Dunn had not previously been identified. Their juvenile arraignments were open to the public, however, because both have been convicted of previous crimes.

Benedict will remain in the custody of the state Department of Corrections for an indeterminate amount of time until he is 21. He will never again be allowed to own, possess or be on any premises with animals.

Before the incident, he had been on juvenile probation stemming from an assault and theft charge last year. His probation was revoked Thursday.

Both have been held at the Mountain View Youth Center in Charleston since they were arrested.

The two teens were accused of entering a Presque Isle back yard on June 2 and luring a 4-year-old female mixed breed dog to a nearby bike path. The dog, named C.C., was later found dead on a path behind a local store.

Both teens appeared Thursday with their legs shackled before Judge David Griffiths.

During the hour-long session, Assistant District Attorney Carrie Linthicum summarized statements that Benedict made to Presque Isle police detectives after the incident.

Benedict told police the three teens were walking around town sometime after midnight when they came upon C.C. tied outside. She began barking at them.

One of the three untied the dog and the group led her to a bike path. Benedict told police they took turns punching and kicking the animal, which he described to police as being a “friendly” dog.

According to Linthicum, a necropsy conducted on C.C. by a local veterinarian uncovered “multiple lacerations” on the dog’s face and head, with “at least 20” wounds on the body. The top of the dog’s skull was soft to the touch, and the animal suffered a possible skull fracture. Its neck was lacerated so deeply that blood vessels were exposed. It had been stabbed in the chest, eyes and muzzle, and there were cuts on the dog’s eyelids.

Benedict told police he hit the dog “at least three times” and “cut and stabbed the dog’s throat two or three times.”

Benedict was intoxicated at the time, according to police. He said “accumulated rage” motivated him to commit the crime and expressed remorse for his actions.

Benedict’s parents spoke on behalf of their son, telling the judge he was remorseful and that they wanted him to receive counseling.

Griffiths asked the teen to tell him in his own words what he had done to the dog, but Benedict refused. He told the judge the police report was “pretty much right,” later noting that he was “pretty intoxicated” during the incident and could not remember much of what happened.

“I’m admitting to the crime,” he said.

In contrast, Dunn recounted in detail what happened on that night when probed by Griffiths.

He said that he had some “built up anxiety and needed to release it somewhere.” He said he had consumed an “extreme amount of alcohol” and smoked marijuana before the incident. He said the dog was tied to a tree during the attack, which he speculated lasted about 10 minutes.

“I hit it, I kicked it, I impaled it,” he told the judge.

Dunn told the judge he could not give “a reasonable explanation” as to why he tortured the animal.

He also expressed remorse, turning around in his seat and looking directly at the dog’s tearful owner as he apologized for his actions.

He said he had never before encountered the dog or its owner.

“It was a random attack,” Dunn said.

The dog’s owner shook her head, put her hands over her eyes and cried as she listened to graphic details about the crime. She said it was the first time she had heard the full story.

The owner told the judge that her young daughter was “extremely fearful for herself and for her other animals” as a result of the teens’ actions.

“She can’t comprehend why anyone would want to hurt an animal,” she said, adding that her daughter went to live with her father at another home for a time because she was so afraid.

Dunn’s parents were not present at Thursday’s hearing.

Residents from around the nation and world flooded Aroostook County District Attorney Neale Adams’ office with letters, faxes and phone calls after learning about the incident. Many urged the office to punish the teens “to the fullest extent of the law.”

While Dunn’s sentencing was delayed, Griffiths agreed with the prosecutor’s recommendation that the teen refrain from keeping or being near animals in the future.

“The facts are heinous enough to warrant that kind of prohibition,” he said.