Dix Hills Man Charged with Animal Abuse, Sexual Misconduct and Petty Larceny

LongIsland.com

The defendant is accused of stealing a dog and abusing it, and later beating it to death.

Print Email
Dix Hills, NY - February 24, 2014 - A Dix Hills man arrested in December for beating a dog with a baseball bat pleaded not guilty this morning to a three count indictment charging him with the felony charge of aggravated animal cruelty, and two misdemeanors; sexual misconduct – the investigation found the defendant had sex with the animal, and a misdemeanor count of petit larceny for stealing the dog, from a fenced-in pen behind a church near Errante’s home on Deer Park Avenue, a couple of months prior to the assault. 
 
Judge Barbara Kahn unsealed Errante’s indictment. 
 
Errante, 26, was ordered held in lieu of $50,000 cash bail, or $100,000 bond. The court granted a defense request that the defendant undergo a psychiatric evaluation to ascertain whether Errante is an "Incapacitated person", specifically a defendant who as a result of mental disease or defect lacks capacity to understand the proceedings against him or to assist in his own defense. 
 
A few days after the December 22nd beating, the Rottweiler-Labrador mix, suffering from a fractured skull, was euthanized.
 
The defendant’s attorney is Mary Beth Abbate, Esq. 
1600 Deer Park Ave, Deer Park, NY (631) 586-0686 
 
COUNT ONE 
The Grand Jury of Suffolk County, by this Indictment, accuses the defendant, Steven Errante, of the crime of Aggravated Cruelty to Animals, in violation of Section 353-a(1) of the New York State Penal Law, committed as follows: 
The defendant, Steven Errante, on or about and between December 21, 2013 and December 22, 2013, in Suffolk County, New York, with no justifiable purpose, he intentionally caused serious physical injury to a companion animal with aggravated cruelty. 
 
COUNT TWO 
The Grand Jury of Suffolk County, by this Indictment, accuses the defendant, Steven Errante, of the crime of Sexual Misconduct, in violation of Section 130.20(3) of the New York State Penal Law, committed as follows: 
The defendant, Steven Errante, on or about and between December 21, 2013 and December 22, 2013, in Suffolk County, New York, engaged in sexual conduct with an animal. 
 
COUNT THREE 
The Grand Jury of Suffolk County, by this Indictment, accuses the defendant, Steven Errante, of the crime of Petit Larceny, in violation of Section 155.25 of the New York State Penal  Law, committed as follows: The defendant, Steven Errante, on or about October 25, 2013, in Suffolk County, New York, stole property from another.