ORANGE PARK, Fla., Sept. 15 (UPI) -- A 12-year-old Florida boy was sent to a juvenile corrections facility for up to three years for mutilating several animals, authorities say.
The Orange Park boy, whose name was not released because of his age, will spend 18 to 36 months in a "maximum-risk commitment program" and then be on probation through age 21, The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville reported. He also is to pay court costs and restitution.
Other charges remain open while authorities monitor how he responds to his punishment, prosecutors said. Assistant State Attorney Julie Taylor said prosecutors would have considered taking the case to adult court if the boy had not agreed to the maximum sentence allowed in juvenile court.
The youth pleaded guilty Wednesday to the July 2-3 attacks on two ponies, three goats and two chickens that either died or had to be put down, the newspaper said. Clay County investigators determined the boy had used a butcher knife, a piece of lumber, pipe and a golf club to beat the animals.
Donald Hoilman, who owned the mutilated animals, attended the court hearing but couldn't be reached for comment, the newspaper said. He previously had called the attacks on his animals cruel.
