Caroline County Man Charged with Animal Cruelty

Mervyn Jay Downes III

A Caroline County man has been arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated animal cruelty in connection with the mutilation and death of two goats and the maiming of a third at a state park, the Maryland Natural Resources Police reported.

Mervyn Jay Downes III, 21, of Ridgely, turned himself in late Friday night after officers searched his home and found evidence linking him to the two crimes earlier this spring. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Caroline District Court on July 5.

On April 8, officers were called to the Adkins Arboretum in Tuckahoe State Park after two goats were found dead, their throats slit. On May 2, officers returned to the arboretum after another goat had been attacked, but survived the stabbing. Evidence collected at the scene eventually led investigators to Downes, who lives on a road abutting the park.

In addition to the animal cruelty charges, Downes also was charged with three counts of malicious destruction of property, two counts of destroying an animal in a state park, two counts of having a weapon in a state park, two counts each of trespassing and being in a state park after hours. Officers also seized several weapons from his home.

Downes was charged last December with multiple counts of illegal deer hunting and pleaded guilty in Queen Anne’s District Court to one charge. He was given probation before judgment and fined $1,500, all of it suspended. He is on probation until Sept. 3.

The maximum sentence for aggravated cruelty to animals is three years in prison and a fine of $5,000.