A 48-year-old Fort Myers, Florida man has been arrested and charged with aggravated animal cruelty after deputies said he killed two kittens and injured another as a form of punishment for his teen daughter.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said its deputies responded to a home in Pine Manor on Wednesday after receiving a report that a man was attempting to drown and strike a two-month-old kitten, Luna.
Witnesses identified the suspect as David Charette Jr., authorities said.
On police video, Charette could be heard saying, “I have to give the cat a bath because it soils itself in the cage.”
But detectives said a 14-year-old girl inside the home told a very different story, saying that when she acts up or when she’s in trouble, her father kills her kittens.
The girl told investigators that Charette struck Luna with a nail polish bottle and put the kitten in a clothes dryer Saturday.
Luna survived and is recovering, authorities said.
Three adult cats were also removed from the home as part of the investigation.
Witnesses told deputies that he would abuse and kill the family’s kittens in front of his teenage daughter as a form of punishment when she would “act up.”
Throughout the investigation, detectives learned that Charette Jr. had killed two kittens in the past year. In June, he is accused of smothering a 1-month-old kitten with a rag soaked in bleach.
In a different incident, he’s accused of killing a 3-month-old kitten by burning it with a blow dryer, according to the sheriff’s office.
Investigators learned that both kittens were buried in the backyard, but the sheriff’s office said that only one of them was recovered during a search of the property.
Detectives said family members never reported the abuse because they feared retaliation.
“A daughter says that when she acts up or when she’s in trouble, her father kills her kittens. This is sickening to me,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said.
On Thursday, Charette was arrested and booked in the Lee County jail for aggravated animal cruelty on $100,000 bail.
In the viral moment that triggered the investigation, the 14-year-old daughter called 911 after witnessing her father holding Luna under running water in what authorities described as an attempted drowning.
The girl called 911 after witnessing Charette hold the 2-month-old kitten named Luna under running water.
Deputies arrived at the Pine Manor home and rescued the kitten, who was then taken to a nearby animal hospital for treatment.
The sheriff’s office said Luna was taken to a local animal hospital and is recovering after treatment.
His arraignment is Sept. 8.