Brown, right, is sentenced by Judge Ward
SOUTH FALLSBURG – A Woodbourne man has been sentenced to 18 months
in jail for animal cruelty and resisting arrest. Rahiem Brown, 36, was
charged in January of 2016 with abusing, injuring and then abandoning
a young Rottweiler mix dog, after an investigation by the Fallsburg Police
Department.
The dog had been found starved and burned. The dog was adopted and renamed
“Dean” after one of its rescuers. The incident prompted the
Sullivan County legislature to adopt “Deans Law” which created
an animal abuser registry and prohibited convicted abusers from owning
an animal for 7 years.
Brown was convicted in November after a jury found him guilty of the charges.
At Wednesday’s sentencing, Assistant District Attorney Richard Caister
described in detail the horrific injuries suffered by the dog and how
Brown tried to flee when the police came to arrest him on a warrant. Brown’s
attorney, William Brenner said that his client was remorseful and asked
that the judge sentence his client to time served.
In the end, Fallsburg Town Justice Amanda Ward sentenced Brown to 1 year
in the Sullivan County Jail on the on the 3 animal abuse charges and an
additional 6 months for resisting arrest. Brown must registered as an
animal abuser with the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office upon his
release.
