MACHIAS – “Couldn’t they see that she wanted to live?” a tearful Michelle Gallant of Baileyville told a 4th District Court judge Thursday during the sentencing of a 14-year-old Baileyville boy who admitted he had a role in the torture and killing of her 15-year-old cat, Pepper.

John B. Dewar II, who was charged with aggravated cruelty to an animal, was sentenced to the Maine Youth Center in Charleston until the age of 18.

But the judge suspended the sentence and placed Dewar on probation with the condition that he complete his stay at a residential treatment program.

Dewar has been at KidsPeace in Ellsworth and, according to his attorney, Rich McNamara of Eastport, has made progress there.

According to its Web site, KidsPeace is a private, nonprofit charity dedicated to serving the behavioral and mental health needs of children, preadolescents and teens.

Dewar, who was accompanied in court Thursday by his mother, Tracy Bohanan, did not apologize to the family when Judge John Romei asked if he had anything to say. He was seen laughing and smiling when he left the courthouse.

The trials for Dewar’s companions, Ted MacArthur and Brent C. Carlow, both 16 of Baileyville, are expected to begin Tuesday.

During sentencing, Assistant District Attorney Joelle Pratt said the three told investigators different stories, but for one consistent fact in the Sept. 23 incident: The cat was tortured and killed.

In her summary, Pratt said Carlow told police the three went to Dewar’s house. Dewar “went in, got a knife.”

“Mr. MacArthur held the cat down, hit it with a wooden stick and the cat ran, and Mr. Dewar ran after it,” she said. “Mr. Dewar brought the cat back to the scene, tried to cut its throat and stab [her] in the side, and it ran off again. Mr. Dewar hit it in the head with a stick, it started quivering, then Mr. Dewar threw a large rock on the cat and it ceased moving.”

Dewar told police it was Carlow who held the cat down and MacArthur who hit it with a spindle.

The cat was placed in a plastic bag and left in a trash receptacle.

Pratt said this was not the first time Dewar had crossed paths with the law.

“There is a strong correlation between [animal cruelty] and very severe problems when they [become] adults,” she said after the sentencing. “This makes the state more concerned than it would be normally because Mr. Dewar has a prior fire-related misdemeanor conviction.”

Gallant, the cat’s owner, was present for Thursday’s court proceeding.

“I cannot get the image of Pepper going to them when they called her, expecting to be loved and petted, and then being hit the first time,” Gallant told the court Thursday.

“Did she wonder what was happening to her? Did she wonder why I wasn’t there to protect her like I had done for 15 years of her life? She ran away from them, fighting for her life, and they dragged her back and they slit her throat and she bit one of them. Couldn’t they see that she wanted to live?”

Outside the Washington County Courthouse on Thursday, Gallant was the voice of compassion.

“They need help,” she said, referring to the perpetrators. “I don’t want to see them thrown away. I have children. I believe if my children got into trouble I would want them to get the help that they need,” she said. “I have to believe that the judge knows what these kids needs.”

Gallant’s husband was visibly upset by Dewar. “I think he should have looked at her and apologized. That should be a big step to getting well. And he couldn’t even do that. I don’t think he’s doing that well,” John Gallant said.