Two South Portland teenagers have each been sentenced to 100 hours of community service for placing an 8-week-old kitten in a microwave oven last September and turning it on.
The girls pleaded guilty last month to animal cruelty charges, The Associated Press reported.
The kitten survived being in the microwave for a few seconds and was later named Miracle by the Animal Refuge League of Westbrook. The incident ignited a public outcry after the girls, who were 15 at the time, posted a video of the stunt on social media.
Cumberland County District Attorney Stephanie Anderson did not return a phone call or email seeking comment on Tuesday night.
But Tamara Getchell, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office told WMTW-TV, that the teens, who are now 16, pleaded guilty to the charges on July 21.
The girls appeared in a Portland court in May and denied a felony charge that they had tortured the kitten. At the time, Judge Keith Powers ordered them to receive a psychological evaluation.
“Torturing an animal is a marker for some serious behavioral problems, but we don’t know if these defendants fit that profile,” Anderson told Judge Powers at the hearing.
The girls’ attorney, Eric Cote, told Powers the girls had no intention of harming the cat and were traumatized by the aftermath. Attempts to reach Cote were unsuccessful.
A father of one of the girls, who was contacted at his home Tuesday evening, said his daughter suffers from anxiety and has been harassed.
“The perception that something malicious was going on is not true,” he said.
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