Teen Charged With Animal Cruelty After Pouring Boiling Water On Cat In Facebook Video
By Mae Rice in News on Feb 5, 2016 4:21PM
Leon Teague, 18, faces animal cruelty charges. (Chicago Police Department)
A Greater Grand Crossing teenager faces animal cruelty charges after allegedly scalding a cat with hot water, filming his crime, and posting the video on Facebook.
Leon Teague, 18, posted the video around 10 p.m. on Feb. 2, and has since been charged with one felony count of animal torture and one misdemeanor count of depicting animal cruelty, according to a police statement.
Teague's video unfolded as follows, according to the Tribune:
In the video, a white cat with black spots meows near a blue litter box and a feeding tray outside the rear porch of a home.A man in the background yells, “Move, b----, move!”
The video shows someone behind the camera holding a black pot with hot water. The man makes noises to lure the cat and throws the water on it.
The cat starts howling loudly and runs away. The man behind the camera continues to yell. “Get the f--- from over here b---- and don’t come back,” he says.
This crime happened two days shy of Facebook’s twelfth anniversary, and it feels indicative of what the site’s evolution: from a popular site for young people to a place for catching felons who lack self-awareness.