bobbylien
09-21-2006, 08:36 AM
EDWARDSVILLE, Illinois (AP) -- A man who admitted in court to tearing off the head of a kitten after a fight with his girlfriend has been sentenced to two years in prison.
When it comes to animal abuse cases, "we don't get prison sentences all the time, so it's always good when we do," Stephanee Smith, a spokeswoman for the Madison County state's attorney's office, said Tuesday of the case against Jacob Thornton.
Thornton, 21, was to have had a preliminary hearing last Thursday on the felony animal torture charge but instead pleaded guilty, Smith said.
A judge ordered Thornton's sentence to run concurrently to a prison term related to a parole violation on a 2005 aggravated battery conviction.
Authorities say that after a July 28 dispute between Thornton and his live-in girlfriend, the 30-year-old woman left the home before returning to find her kitten's head and detached body in the front yard.
Four days after he was charged with animal torture, Thornton was also charged with burglarizing a motor vehicle. That case is pending.
Just two years? Come on.. this guy rips the head off a living thing out of pure rage and they want to let him out after just two years? He deserves 10 years.. at the very least. We need more prisons and we need to make our penalties a lot tougher. I don't know about everyone else but I would gladly pay more money to the government so they could lock trash like this up.
When it comes to animal abuse cases, "we don't get prison sentences all the time, so it's always good when we do," Stephanee Smith, a spokeswoman for the Madison County state's attorney's office, said Tuesday of the case against Jacob Thornton.
Thornton, 21, was to have had a preliminary hearing last Thursday on the felony animal torture charge but instead pleaded guilty, Smith said.
A judge ordered Thornton's sentence to run concurrently to a prison term related to a parole violation on a 2005 aggravated battery conviction.
Authorities say that after a July 28 dispute between Thornton and his live-in girlfriend, the 30-year-old woman left the home before returning to find her kitten's head and detached body in the front yard.
Four days after he was charged with animal torture, Thornton was also charged with burglarizing a motor vehicle. That case is pending.
Just two years? Come on.. this guy rips the head off a living thing out of pure rage and they want to let him out after just two years? He deserves 10 years.. at the very least. We need more prisons and we need to make our penalties a lot tougher. I don't know about everyone else but I would gladly pay more money to the government so they could lock trash like this up.