Man in cat case given 60 days in jail

Clint Wilkes, the man accused of abusing kittens to manipulate his girlfriend whom he has roughed up in the past, was sentenced Monday to 60 days in jail.

His case has sparked outrage from animal rights activists and drawn considerable media attention.

Wilkes was handcuffed and led immediately from the courtroom, followed by a pack of news media representatives and TV cameras.

The Kearns man previously pleaded guilty to an amended charge of straight assault, which replaced a domestic violence charge, and entered a plea of no contest to one count of animal abandonment. Both are class B misdemeanors, which carry a potential sentence of six months in jail.

As part of a plea bargain, two counts of animal cruelty were dismissed.

Salt Lake County Municipal Judge Peggy Acomb sentenced Wilkes to 180 days in jail for the assault, suspended 120 days of that, and ordered that Wilkes serve two months starting immediately. She imposed a suspended sentence of 180 days for the animal abandonment charge.

The judge seemed particularly concerned about Wilkes' substance abuse problems and told Wilkes it was "not good enough" to say that work, therapy sessions and family concerns kept him from getting a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation.

Acomb placed Wilkes on a year's probation that includes such restrictions as no alcohol or drugs, random urine testing, an evaluation and treatment for any mental health problems, and payment of yet undetermined restitution.

Wilkes told the court he would like to do community service in an animal shelter to show people that he is not the kind of person he has been portrayed to be.

"Those letters (to the court) from people against me are from people who don't know me. There are a lot of people out there that hate me. If they knew me, it wouldn't be like that."

He said he has completed one domestic violence prevention class and is starting another at Valley Mental Health and also is getting help for substance abuse.

His attorney, Elizabeth Hunt, said Wilkes is still with the girlfriend in this case and they are attending classes at Valley Mental Health. She also said the court has received many letters from people documenting Wilkes' "lifelong history of kindness to animals."

Hunt said she tried repeatedly to contact the Humane Society of Utah's executive director after seeing the group's Web page call for people to show up at Wilkes' sentencing, but got no response. Hunt said the humane thing to do, in keeping with the organization's philosophy, would be to let Wilkes do community service at an animal shelter.

People could then "get to know the Clint Wilkes that I know," she said.