A Santa Paula man who was caught on surveillance video beating a sick sea lion with a large stick has pleaded guilty to felony charges and now faces up to three years in state prison.
Christopher Hurtado, 32, admitted Monday to one count of animal cruelty and one count of drug possession after officials say he abruptly changed his plea ahead of trial.
He also admitted to aggravating factors, including a prior strike and the vulnerability of the animal.
“Ventura County was outraged by the violence this defendant inflicted on a defenseless animal,” District Attorney Erik Nasarenko wrote in a news release issued 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 called 911 after seeing a sea lion stuck on the rocks near the pier.
Dispatchers used surveillance cameras to locate the animal and then watched as Hurtado approached and kicked it in the head. He later picked up a four-foot piece of driftwood and struck the sea lion at least two more times.
Ventura police officers arrived shortly after and arrested Hurtado, who they said attempted to flee. Officers found .06 grams of methamphetamine in his pants pocket at the time of his arrest.
The Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute later took the sea lion into care but it had to be euthanized due to domoic acid poisoning, a neurotoxin from algae blooms responsible for a recent hike in stranded marine mammals along the California coast.
“Our office takes acts of cruelty to animals very seriously and we are committed to holding those individuals accountable when animals are unnecessarily harmed,” said Deputy District Attorney Patrick Benjamin, who prosecuted the case.
Hurtado remains in custody on $25,000 bail and is scheduled to be sentenced July 14 in Ventura County Superior Court.