Florida dad carried out brutal acts against kittnes to teach daughter lesson when she 'acted up,' police say

By LAUREN ACTON-TAYLOR, US NEWS REPORTER Published: 18:32, 10 August 2026 | Updated: 18:34, 10 August 2026 A cruel father in Florida admitted to abusing the family's two-month-old kitten to punish his teenage daughter when she 'acted up,' police say.  David Charette Jr, 48, was identified by witnesses as the suspect in a case of horrific animal abuse. He allegedly hurt the kittens in front of his daughter in Fort Myers. Law enforcement responded to reports of a man attempting to drown and strike the kitten, named Luna, in Pine Manor.  Charette Jr allegedly confessed to the horrific acts and said he abused the adorable animals to punish his daughter when she 'acted up,' police said.  A statement given to police stated that a witness had seen Charette Jr 'repeatedly struck Luna in the face with an open hand while telling the kitten that [redacted] was the reason he was hurting her,' according to a probable cause statement obtained by the Daily Mail.  Luna was allegedly heard yelling and crying in pain. Charette Jr allegedly then picked up a glass bottle of nail polish and struck the kitten in the head 'multiple times' as the kitten 'continued crying out in apparent agony,' the statement said.  According to the Lee County Sheriff's Office, two kittens had already been killed by Charette Jr in the past year, with both buried in the backyard. 'In June, he allegedly smothered a one-month-old kitten with a rag soaked in bleach. In a separate incident, he allegedly killed a three-month-old kitten by burning it with a blow dryer,' police said.  David Charette Jr, 48, was identified by witnesses as the suspect of horrific animal abuse in front of his daughter in Fort Myers A statement given to police stated that Charette Jr 'repeatedly struck Luna in the face with an open hand' before allegedly striking the kitten's head with a glass bottle of nail polish Charette Jr allegedly confessed to the horrific acts and said he abused the adorable animals to punish his daughter when she 'acted up,' police said According to the statement, the burns on the kittens ears were so severe that 'portions of Salem's ears began to fall off.'  Deputies found only one of the kittens bodies during a search of the property, a release stated. Bodycam footage from responding officers saw a dark-colored young kitten being placed into a cat carrier and removed from the property.  '[The] cat's in perfectly healthy condition,' a man was heard telling the officers.  'I have to give the cat a bath because it soils itself in the cage. So it's covered in c*** and I have to give it a bath and it cries and she doesn't like that.' 'I can't just leave it covered in poop,' the man added.  A witness told police that they had previously seen Charette Jr 'place Luna inside a clothes dryer and activate the dryer on approximately three separate occasions.' After returning from work, they saw Luna had become 'lethargic, unusually inactive and barely moving,' the probable cause statement said.  A witness told police that they had previously seen Charette Jr 'place Luna inside a clothes dryer and activate the dryer on approximately three separate occasions' Bodycam footage from responding officers saw a dark-colored young kitten being placed into a cat carrier and removed from the property According to police, two kittens had already been killed by Charette Jr in the past year, one was allegedly smothered with a bleach-soaked rag and the other was burned with a blow dryer 'David reportedly told [redacted] that he and Luna had "played rough" during the day and that Luna was simply sore. [She] further stated she then observed David pick Luna up and aggressively throw her into a pet crate.'  Luna was transported to a local animal hospital where she received treatment and 'is recovering,' the sheriff's office said.  According to the witness, family members had not previously reported the abuse because they 'feared retaliation' and said Charette Jr told her 'he took his frustration out on the kittens instead of taking it out on her.' 'David also specifically told [redacted] that he beats the kittens because no one else cares about him,' the report stated.  Further footage showed Charette Jr being placed in handcuffs just after 5pm on Saturday and charged with aggravated animal cruelty.   Animal control took three other adult cats out of the home for evaluation, police said.  The Daily Mail reached out to the Lee County Sheriff's Office for comment.