Lee County, FL – A Florida man has been charged with animal cruelty after killing two kittens and injuring another. Police say he committed the acts in front of his teenage daughter as a form of punishment.

Body camera video shows deputies detaining 48-year-old David Charette Jr. outside his Pine Manor home. Before he was placed in handcuffs, he told deputies he had done nothing wrong.

“The cat’s in perfectly healthy condition. I have to give the cat a bath because it soils itself in the cage,” Charette said.

Detectives say a 14-year-old girl inside the home told them a very different story. She said her father kills her kittens when she acts up or gets in trouble.

“This is sickening to me,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said.

The girl called 911 after watching her father hold a two-month-old kitten named Luna under running water. She told deputies Charette also hit Luna with a nail polish bottle and put her into a clothes dryer on Saturday. Luna survived and is recovering.

Marceno said two other kittens were killed. One died in June after being hit repeatedly and left on a bleach-soaked rag. Another was found dead in November after suffering burns from a blow dryer.

“Two of the kittens that he killed were buried in the back,” Marceno said.

Detectives say family members never reported the abuse because they feared retaliation. Three adult cats were taken from the home for evaluation. Charette is now in jail charged with aggravated animal cruelty.

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