Talkeetna man pleads guilty to assault, sentenced to four years

Last Friday, 25-year old Talkeetna resident Orrin Pinard was sentenced to four years in prison after having pleaded guilty to charges of assault and cruelty to animals.‡

The charges stem from May 2010, when Pinard assaulted his wife and tried to strangle her with a t-shirt. According to Assistant District Attorney Rachel Gernat, the victim thought she was going to die, but managed to get away and to report the crime to the troopers.  Pinard then assaulted one of his mother’s dogs and bludgeoned the animal to death. Gernat said that facts of the case support that bestiality and sexually deviant behavior on the part of Pinard was involved.

Pinard initially faced six assault charges, one cruelty to animals charge and a criminal mischief charge. As part of a plea bargain, he pleaded guilty to one count of assault in the second degree and the cruelty to animals charge.

Pinard was given a composite sentence of nine years in prison, with five years suspended and four years left to serve. After the prison term, he will be on probation for seven years.