A Santa Paula man who was recorded on security camera thrashing a sick sea lion with a huge stick has pleaded guilty to felony charges and could face up to three years in state prison.
Christopher Hurtado, 32, guilty on Monday to one count of animal cruelty and one count of cocaine possession after abruptly changing his plea ahead of trial.
He also admitted to aggravating factors, such as a previous hit and the animal’s frailty.
“Ventura County was outraged by the violence this defendant inflicted on a defenseless animal,” District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said in a statement released Tuesday. “The nature of this senseless attack shocked our conscience and called for aggressive prosecution.”
On March 4, a woman walking her dog along the Ventura Promenade contacted 911 when she noticed a sea lion stranded on the rocks near the pier.
Dispatchers utilized surveillance cameras to find the animal, then watched Hurtado approach and kick it in the head. He then took up a four-foot piece of driftwood and hit the sea lion at least twice more.
Ventura police officers arrived shortly after and detained Hurtado, who they claimed tried to flee. Officers discovered.06 grams of methamphetamine in his pants pocket at the time of his arrest.
The Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute eventually took the sea lion in, but it had to be euthanized due to domoic acid poisoning, a neurotoxin caused by algae blooms that was responsible for a recent increase in stranded marine mammals throughout the California coast.
“Our office takes acts of animal cruelty very seriously, and we are committed to holding those individuals accountable when animals are unnecessarily harmed,” said Deputy District Attorney Patrick Benjamin, who handled the case.
Hurtado is still in detention on $25,000 bond and is expected to be sentenced on July 14 in Ventura County Superior Court.
