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Case #2556 Rating: 3.3 out of 5
Dog beaten and sodomized
Nederland, TX (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Dec 6, 2003
County: Jefferson
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Christopher Lane Ashmun
Case Updates: 3 update(s) available
A Jefferson County grand jury returned an indictment charging a Nederland teenager with cruelty to animals.
Christopher Lane Ashmun, 17, is accused of beating dogs in the yard of his home on Luling Avenue last month with a stick and a pipe. He and two juveniles also are accused of "penetrating (an) animal's rectum with an unknown object," according to an investigative summary.
If convicted, Ashmun could face up to two years in prison and a maximum $10,000.
Ashmun was expected to enter a plea in the case but instead requested a jury trial. Jury selection will begin on July, 19 2004 with testimony starting July 20. Jerry Holmes, Ashmuns' court appointed attorny would not comment on his clients decision not to enter a plea.
Twelve other dogs were taken to the animal control shelter in Groves, TX. Kent Broussard, Animal Control Officer in Nederland testified in court in January that none of the dogs should be returned to the Ashmun home even though owner, Virginia Ashmun, said she wanted a male and female dog back.
Two of the dogs were parents of the other eleven, Broussard said. The dogs have grown up together and have formed a tight pack. "They are like feral dogs", Broussard said.
Representatives from the Humane Society of Southeast Texas visited the dogs to determine if the dogs could be adopted. "They were basically feral," said Laura Eakes, vice president of the Humane Society of Southeast Texas. "They were unsocialized and they wanted to bite anything and everything. They were unadoptable in our opinion. "
She also said she got the impression that they had also been abused. All the dogs including Pinky, the dog Ashmun abused, were euthanized.
Case UpdatesA Nederland teen was sentenced 30 days in a jail, probation and a fine for abusing his pet dog.
Christopher Ashmun, 18, was sentenced Monday by Criminal District Court Judge Charles Carver after pleading guilty to a charge of cruelty to animals.
Ashmun entered a plea of guilty in April, more than a year after a neighbor said he saw the teen torturing his pet Pinky, a yellow Labrador. The original indictment said that Ashmun reportedly hit the dog and penetrated the animal's anus with an unknown object in December 2003, when Ashmun was 17.
On Jan. 30, 2004, 13 dogs were seized from the Ashmun home on Luling Avenue. Members of the local community flooded the dog pound with calls, hoping to adopt the dogs, but animal control officers had to euthanize the dogs because they had developed a feral, aggressive pack mentality.
Cruelty to animals is a state jail felony that carries a sentence range of 180 days to six months in jail and a $10,000 fine.
After Ashmun pleaded guilty, Carver ordered a pre-sentence investigation before deciding on punishment.
Monday Carver handed down a sentence of five years deferred probation, 30 days county jail time, mandatory counseling and a $2,000 fine payable to the Nederland Animal Control.
The Humane Society of Southeast Texas has closely followed the case, urging the district attorney to fully prosecute this and any case of animal cruelty. The group has said that a person that tortures an animal is likely to escalate to other crimes against people.
"The cruelty Mr. Ashmun inflicted upon 13 dogs, his own family pets, defies reason," Cindy Meyers, president of the Humane Society of Southeast Texas, said in a statement. "Mr. Ashmun repeatedly, at the admission of his own father in a television interview, burned the dogs with cigarettes. Even worse, he sodomized one or more of the dogs with foreign objects. When asked by Judge Carver at his sentencing hearing why he would perform such heinous acts, Mr. Ashmun had no response."
Ashmun's defense attorneys had said there was no proof that any of the dogs had been harmed and that they were calm, loving pets who only became aggressive after being seized by Nederland Animal Control.
Meyers said the maximum sentence of two years would have "more justly suited the crime" and would send a message that abuse and torture of animals will "not be tolerated."
"We pray that Mr. Ashmun does not take the next step in line with this type of behavior: inflicting physical and emotional torture on humans," Meyers said.
The judge also prohibited Ashmun for owning or being around any pets while on probation. | Source: panews.com - May 10, 2005
Update posted on May 9, 2005 - 11:12PM |
| The day his jury trial was about to begin, a Nederland teen decided to plead guilty to charges of animal cruelty. Christopher Ashmun, 18, entered a plea of guilty Monday in Criminal District Judge Charles Carver's court. | Source: Port Arthur News - April 4, 2005
Update posted on Apr 9, 2005 - 1:37AM |
Jerald Ashmun, Christopher's father, says his son is innocent of the charges. Last year a grand jury indicted Christopher Ashmun of Nederland, after a neighbor alleged he saw Ashmun and two juveniles abuse several dogs in Ashmun's backyard. His trial is set for April 4th.
Jerald Ashmun maintains his son is innocent. Jerald Ashmun stated, "I know my son. I know he's honest, and he's told myself and his mother what transpired." Jerald Ashmun says he wasn't home on December 10th of 2003.
According to a probable cause affidavit that's when a neighbor alleges he saw Christopher Ashmun and two other juvenile boys abuse one of Ashmun's dogs in the family's backyard in Nederland. The affidavit alleges Ashmun and two other boys used an object to abuse the dog, named Pinky. The affidavit also claims several other dogs in the yard were struck.
Jerald Ashmun: "Christopher is an animal lover. He doesn't want to harm any animals."
Ashmun says his son was in the family's computer room that day, while the other two boys were in the backyard smoking cigarettes and playing with the dogs.
Jerald Ashmun: "They were burning the dogs with cigarettes lightly."
He says the door to the computer room was open the entire time.
Jerald Ashmun: "When they burned him with the cigarettes or whatever, Pinky ran inside to Christopher."
According to Ashmun, the neighbor exaggerated what happened next.
Jerald Ashmun: "He got Christopher's plate of food, and Christopher took a small stick, and tapped him on the rear end."
A grand jury indicted Christopher Ashmun on a charge of animal cruelty. He is set to go to trial on April 4th.
Assistant District Attorney John Ross says in Texas it is a state jail felony to torture an animal.
John Ross/Assistant District Attorney: "The potential punishment ranges from 180 days in the state jail up to 2 years in the state jail, and carries a possible fine of up to 10,000 dollars."
While prosecutors will pursue their case beginning April 4th, Jerald Ashmun says he'll be working to clear his son of the charges against him. | Source: KFDM - Feb 16, 2005
Update posted on Feb 20, 2005 - 10:47AM |
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