Images for this Case
CONVICTED: Was justice served?
more information on voting
When you vote, you are voting on whether or not the punishment fit the crime, NOT on the severity of the case itself. If you feel the sentence was very weak, you would vote 1 star. If you feel the sentence was very strong, you would vote 5 stars.
Please vote honestly and realistically. These ratings will be used a a tool for many future programs, including a "People’s Choice" of best and worst sentencing, DA and judge "report cards", and more. Try to resist the temptation to vote 1 star on every case, even if you feel that 100 years in prison isn’t enough.
Case #8234 Rating: 4.7 out of 5
Cat knocked from rafter, attacked by pit bull
Newville, PA (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Jan 31, 2006
County: Cumberland
Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 2 files available
Defendants/Suspects:
» Ronald Ray Airesman
» Matthew Ryan Conklin
» Gavyn Allen Metcalf
» 15 year old girl - Alleged
Case Updates: 9 update(s) available
The video contains no sound but depicts the bloody and violent death of a small animal, according to police.
In the video, which police are using as evidence, a man using a broomstick is shown knocking a frightened kitten from what appears to be rafters in a basement of a home.
Another man holds a pit bull and tries to agitate the dog as a third man watches the proceedings.
The Cumberland County District Attorney's office said the men, ages 25, 19 and 18, and a 15-year-old girl face felony animal cruelty charges for videotaping a staged fight between the pit bull and kitten that ends with the kitten's death.
Those charges, expected to be filed within a week, carry possible prison terms and heavy fines.
The girl, a Big Spring High School student from West Pennsboro Twp., received the kitten from a Carlisle resident who was giving it away, investigators said. They said the girl saw an advertisement for the free kitten in a newspaper.
The girl, who state police said videotaped the incident, used a digital camera to show still images of the attack taken from the video to several classmates at the Cumberland Perry Area Vocational Technical School in March, authorities said.
Police later found the video, which they said was filmed in February. The teen was emotionless as she explained the events depicted on it, they said.
"She was very matter-of-fact in describing the whole thing," said Trooper Scott Leidigh. "The students who saw the images were horrified by what they had seen."
William Sandstrom, an officer with the Humane Society of Harrisburg Area Inc., called the three-minute video "an extreme act of cruelty, for sheer sadistic pleasure."
State police said they were not releasing the names of the people involved until they are charged.
"I would say all three men appear to be pretty entertained by what was going on," Leidigh said.
Senior Assistant District Attorney John Dailey said the four could each face a misdemeanor charge of cruelty to animals and a felony charge of animal fighting.
The fighting charge carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years and a $15,000 fine. A cruelty to animals charge in this case would be a first-degree misdemeanor with a possible penalty of a $1,000 fine and up to 2 years in prison, Dailey said.
Leidigh said the pit bull was not taken from its owner. Sandstrom said he hopes to have the dog removed and placed in a new home.
"I don't see how any animal lover can say that's the type of environment you want a dog in," he said.
Cumberland Perry Area Vocational Technical School Administrative Director Mary E. Rodman and Big Spring Superintendent Richard Fry said they had no plans to discipline the girl because the incident was not reported directly to teachers or administrators.
Rodman said the father of a girl who saw the tape reported the incident to the Big Spring school district.
Fry said the girl would not be disciplined by Big Spring because the images were not shown on school grounds.
Case UpdatesA Cumberland County man was sentenced to 10 to 23 months in county prison on March 13 for his role in filming a pit bull killing a kitten.
In setting the sentence, county Judge Skip Ebert did not honor a prosecution recommendation that Ronald Airesman, 22, of Carlisle, be sent to state prison after his guilty plea on a charge of cruelty to animals.
State police said Airesman, two other men and a 15-year-old girl set the dog on the kitten in a basement of a West Pennsboro Twp. home in February 2006. When the cat took refuge in rafters, Airesman knocked it down with a stick, police said.
The 15-year-old girl was prosecuted as a juvenile. The other men, Matthew R. Conklin, 20, and Gavyn R. Metcalf, 19, both of West Pennsboro Twp., previously were sentenced to 3 to 23 months in county prison. Airesman's sentence was longer because he has a prior criminal record, authorities said. | Source: The Patriot News - Mar 13, 2007
Update posted on Mar 14, 2007 - 1:33PM |
The last of three men convicted of felony animal fighting charges is scheduled to be sentenced on March 13. Ronald Ray Airesman will appear in court on March 13, 2007 at 1:30 p.m. in Cumberland County Court, located at 1 Courthouse Square, Carlisle, PA 17013.
Airesman entered a guilty plea on January 16 for his role in filming a pit bull mauling and killing a kitten.
Airesman's co-defendants, Matthew R. Conklin and Gavyn R. Metcalf, were sentenced to 3 to 23 months in county prison in December.
No information is available on the fourth defendant, a juvenile female. | Source: Docket # CP-21-CR-0002461-2006
Update posted on Feb 28, 2007 - 8:55PM |
The Carlisle man who pleaded guilty to animal cruelty yesterday and could face up to seven years in prison is the exception to the rule, according to an animal welfare authority.
Ronald Airesman pleaded guilty in Cumberland County Court yesterday to cruelty/animal fighting for his role in filming a pit bull mauling and killing a kitten. His sentencing came a month after his co-defendants were sent to prison.
Airesman used a metal pole to dislodge the kitten from a rafter so the agitated dog could attack it.
Bill Sandstrom, animal cruelty officer for the Humane Society of Harrisburg Area, said illegal animal fighting isn't rare, but the perpetrators are rarely caught. They have to be captured in the act, he said.
"It does happen an awful lot, especially to the 'free to a good home' animals," Sandstrom said. "You never know what's going to happen to them. There are a lot of sick people out there."
Most animal fighting offenders don't serve long prison terms, he said, citing a dog-fighting ring in Erie County in which none of the conspirators served more than a year behind bars.
"Unfortunately, in the state of Pennsylvania the law is very relaxed," Sandstrom said.
Airesman's co-conspirators, Matthew R. Conklin and Gavyn R. Metcalf, were sentenced in December to 3 to 23 months in county prison after they pleaded to the same charge.
Judge Edward E. Guido also ordered Conklin, 20, and Metcalf, 19, both of West Pennsboro Twp., to undergo psychological evaluations.
Airesman entered his plea before Judge Skip Ebert, who is to sentence him in March. He had been scheduled for trial this month.
The count to which Airesman pleaded carries a maximum of 7 years in prison, Senior Assistant District Attorney John Dailey said.
Neither Airesman nor his attorney, Charles Mackin, would comment.
Airesman and the others, including a 15-year-old Newville-area girl who was prosecuted as a juvenile, got the free kitten in February from a Carlisle woman who advertised it for adoption as a pet, police said.
Authorities began investigating after the girl showed the video to fellow students at Cumberland Perry Vocational Technical School.
Dailey said the four got the kitten with the intention of filming its death "for their amusement." | Source: PennLive - Jan 17, 2007
Update posted on Jan 18, 2007 - 2:32AM |
Two Newville-area men sentenced for letting a pit bull attack a kitten will undergo psychological evaluations, much to the satisfaction of the local humane society.
"They were so nonchalant about it," said William Sandstrom, lead investigating officer with the West and East Shore Humane Society’s animal cruelty division about his interviews with the men. “There’s some underlying problems there.”
The humane society investigated the incident in partnership with the district attorney’s office, he said.
In addition to the psychological exams, Gavyn Metcalf, 19, of Burgners Mill Road and Matthew Conklin, 20, of East Main Street in Plainfield were ordered Tuesday to serve 3 to 23 months each in Cumberland County Prison.
The two pleaded guilty to felony animal fighting charges in October. The maximum penalty on the charge is seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine.
They and two others were charged in connection with the incident, which occurred in February.
Cumberland County Judge Ed Guido ordered the evaluations to shed some light on why the two got the kitten from a "free cats" ad in the newspaper and baited Metcalf's pit bull with it.
Explanation wanting
Guido said he would have given the two a stiffer sentence, but they had no prior criminal records.
"We've gotten no explanation, none at all” about why they did it, he said.
Guido wasn't satisfied with Conklin’s answer at the sentencing hearing that the attack was "something stupid I did, I guess."
"Stupid does not describe it," Guido replied.
Metcalf told the judge he regretted his actions.
On the videotape, the dog grabs the cat in its jaws in Metcalf's basement and shakes it to death, police said.
The video shows someone knocking the kitten from the basement rafters with a broomstick and another man holding the pit bull and trying to agitate it while a third man watches. After the kitten died, the defendants threw its body in the back yard, police say.
Ronald Airesman, 22, has not pleaded guilty and is scheduled for a pretrial conference Jan. 16.
A 15-year-old girl who police say taped the attack and then showed the video to classmates at Cumberland Perry Area Vocational Technical School is being prosecuted as a minor, with a closed-door hearing before a county judge.
Sandstrom said Metcalf’s dog was killed the day before the Humane Society arrived to take it — a neighbor shot the pit bull after it attacked the neighbor's chained dog, he said.
He urged people who want to give away kittens to put at least a nominal price on them, rather than advertising them as "free to a good home." | Source: The Sentinel - Dec 7, 2006
Update posted on Dec 8, 2006 - 1:30PM |
Two Cumberland County men who filmed a pit bull killing a kitten will spend the next 3 to 23 months in county prison.
They'll also have to undergo psychiatric evaluations if they want to make parole.
"Stupid doesn't adequately describe this," county Judge Edward E. Guido said as he sentenced Matthew R. Conklin and Gavyn R. Metcalf on animal cruelty charges yesterday. "Cruel is what it was. What were you thinking?"
Hopefully, a court-ordered psychiatric exams will answer that question, Guido said.
Conklin, 20, and Metcalf, 19, pleaded guilty in the cruelty case last month. They could have faced up to 7 years in prison.
State police said the two were arrested after an accomplice, a 15-year-old Newville-area girl, showed the video to fellow students at Cumberland Perry Vocational Technical School.
The girl is being prosecuted in juvenile court. A third man accused in the case, Ronald Airesman, 21, of Carlisle, awaits trial.
Police said the girl got the kitten in February from a Carlisle resident who had advertised it for adoption as a pet.
The girl, Conklin, Metcalf and Airesman took the feline to the basement of Metcalf's home and used it to bait the pit bull, police said. They goaded Metcalf's dog to attack, investigators said, and knocked the kitten to the floor when it cowered in the rafters.
Senior Assistant District Attorney John Dailey provided Guido with a DVD of the killing for the judge to consider as he pondered the sentences for Conklin and Metcalf.
"It was something stupid I did, I guess," Conklin told Guido.
"It was very stupid," Metcalf agreed. "If I could go back, I wouldn't have done it."
"It's just incredible what occurred," Guido said as he sent them to jail. "Any lesser sentence would not do justice." | Source: The Patriot News - Dec 6, 2006
Update posted on Dec 6, 2006 - 6:04PM |
Attorneys waive their right to a preliminary hearing after viewing a videotape of the animals involved.
Formal arraignments are scheduled for August 15 for two Newville-area men charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty and felony animal fighting.
The preliminary hearings for Gavyn Allen Metcalf, 19, and Matthew Ryan Conklin, 20, were waived Thursday after their attorneys viewed videotape.
The men were among four individuals charged in early May for baiting a pit bull with a kitten. The kitten's killing was videotaped Feb. 28, authorities say
Police say the incident took place in Metcalf's basement along Burgners Mill Road.
Conklin, of East Main Street in Plainfield, waited for his private attorney for nearly two hours Thursday morning. The hearing was going to be rescheduled but the attorney showed up before Conklin left.
Two others charged in the incident are facing the same misdemeanor and felony charges. A 15-year-old female Big Spring High School student is accused of operating the digital camera that filmed the incident and Ronald Airesman, 21, is identified as the third man in the video.
Police have not yet found Airesman.
The charges carry a maximum penalty of seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine.
The 15-year-old girl is being prosecuted as a minor and will have a closed-door hearing before a county judge.
She was called to testify at Metcalf's and Conklin's preliminary hearings Thursday.
While waiting in District Judge Vivian Cohick's courtroom, the 15-year-old expressed frustration with the television camera crews waiting outside the court building.
ăThey're so stupid,ä she said, with tears in her eyes. She said she did not want to leave the building until they departed.
Authorities say they found out about the kitten killing when the girl showed parts of the video to students at Cumberland-Perry Area Vocational Technical School in March.
Authorities say the video shows someone knocking a kitten from the basement rafters with a broomstick and another man holding a pit bull and trying to agitate it while a third man watches.
An affidavit says the dog then killed the kitten by clamping it in its mouth and shaking it. The defendants allegedly threw its body in the back yard. | Source: The Sentinel - June 23, 2006
Update posted on Jul 1, 2006 - 10:49AM |
Gavyn Ryan Metcalf and Matthew Allen Conklin said they were both "just there" when a videotape of a pit bull mauling and killing a kitten was made in February.
Yesterday (June 1, 2006), just before attending a hearing at the office of District Judge Vivian Cohick, Metcalf, 19, of Burgners Mill Road, and Conklin, 20, of East Main Street, both of West Pennsboro Twp., said they were innocent of misdemeanor cruelty to animals and felony charges of animal fighting.
After meeting with their attorneys for almost an hour, Cohick postponed the hearing until June 22.
A third man, Ronald Airesman, 21, has also been charged but not arrested. State police said they have been unable to locate Airesman.
Conklin and Metcalf told Cohick they hadn't seen Airsman in some time.
A 15-year-old Big Spring High School student, who police said shot the video, has been charged with the same counts.
Police didn't name her because she is being treated as a minor.
The girl received the kitten from a Carlisle resident who was giving it away in February, specifically to let the dog attack the kitten, investigators said.
The girl told police she believed she got the cat from a home along Louther Street, arrest records state.
Police said the video was filmed in the basement of Metcalf's home.
The 15-year-old girl is believed to be Metcalf's ex-girlfriend, police said.
Authorities said she eventually used a digital camera to show images of the attack taken from the video to several classmates at the Cumberland Perry Area Vocational Technical School in March.
Police later found the video and interviewed the girl. She was emotionless as she explained the events depicted on it, they said.
In the video, which police are using as evidence, a man using a broomstick knocks a frightened kitten from what appears to be rafters in a basement of Metcalf's home, according to authorities.
Another man holds a pit bull and tries to agitate the dog as a third man watches the proceedings, authorities said.
At one point, both animals go out of camera view and are pulled back into frame, investigators said. | Source: The Patroit News - June 2, 2006
Update posted on Jun 16, 2006 - 11:50PM |
Gavyn Metcalf, 18, of Carlisle, and Matthew Conklin, 20, of Plainfield, had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing Thursday on charges of misdemeanor cruelty-to-animals and felony animal-fighting charges. The hearing was postponed.
A 15-year-old girl who allegedly shot the video also is charged in the case. Police have charged but not arrested a third man, Ronald Airesman, 21.
Authorities claim the girl obtained the kitten specifically for the attack in February from a Carlisle resident who was giving away the animal. | Source: NEPA News - June 2, 2006
Update posted on Jun 7, 2006 - 8:29PM |
Criminal charges were filed against three Newville-area men and a 15-year-old girl in the videotaping of a pit bull attacking and killing a kitten.
Gavyn Metcalf, 18, Ronald Airesman, 21, and Matthew Conklin, 20, were charged Friday with misdemeanor cruelty to animals and a felony charge of animal fighting, police said.
A 15-year-old girl, a Big Spring High School student, who police said shot the video, has been charged with the same counts. Police didn't name her because she is being treated as a minor.
Since the case was first reported last week, The Patriot-News has received telephone calls and e-mails from readers.
The girl received the kitten from a Carlisle resident who was giving it away in February, specifically to let the dog attack the kitten, investigators said.
Police said the video was filmed in the basement of Metcalf's home along Burgner's Mill Road in West Pennsboro Twp. The 15-year-old girl is believed to be Metcalf's ex-girlfriend, police said.
Later she used a digital camera to show images of the attack taken from the video to several classmates at the Cumberland Perry Area Vocational Technical School in March, authorities said.
Police later found the video and interviewed the girl. She was emotionless as she explained the events depicted on it, they said.
In the video, which police are using as evidence, a man using a broomstick knocks a frightened kitten from what appears to be rafters in a basement of Metcalf's home, according to authorities.
Another man holds a pit bull and tries to agitate the dog as a third man watches the proceedings, authorities said.
The fighting charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 7 years in prison and a $15,000 fine. A cruelty to animals charge in this case would be a first-degree misdemeanor with a possible penalty of a $1,000 fine and up to 2 years in prison.
A preliminary hearing is expected to be scheduled after the four are arrested this week. | Source: The Patroit News - May 1, 2006
Update posted on May 1, 2006 - 2:49PM |
References« PA State Animal Cruelty Map
« More cases in Cumberland County, PA
|
