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Boys admit to stoning, then hanging kitten from tree - Sheriff Blames GTA

Cruxis Mana | December 06, 2008 | News | PC Playstation 2 Misc

Just when you thought Grand Theft Auto couldn't be blamed for anything else...
This time the Sheriff's Office of Maricope County have found that GTA is to blame for two children, 6 and 7 years old, stoning and then hanging a kitten using a game controller cord.

quote
The boys are also too young to be charged by animal cruelty and child protection services declined to help because the case is "outside the normal criteria." So, what we know is that a bunch of ignorant parents let children unattended in their trailers, playing adult games and hanging cats, and nobody will do a damn thing to discipline them.

Yet videogames somehow get the blame. Classy.

MESA -- Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies and the Sheriff's Animal Crimes Unit have concluded an investigation of two boys, six and seven years old, living in an East Mesa trailer park who admit to stoning and later hanging to death a four month old kitten.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio says the boys are too young to be charged with animal cruelty and apparently will not be getting help from Child Protective Services.

The investigation began with a call to the Sheriff's Office on October 23, 2008 from a neighbor who found a dead cat. Deputies went to the neighborhood of one of the two boys in the 9000 block of Apache Trail in Mesa and found the kitten hanging by its neck from a backyard tree.

The boys had apparently used a wire from the video game controller they were playing, Grand Theft Auto, to hoist up the kitten. The animal's head had been injured by blows from a rock.

Arpaio questions why these young children were allowed to play such a violent video game.

This game allows players to kill cops and rape women, Arpaio says. Its little wonder why they perpetrated such violence against that little animal.

News Story attached to:

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas [PC, Xbox, PS2]
Grand Theft Auto IV [PC, XBOX360, PS3]
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City [Xbox, PC, PS2]

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Most recently commented on by Atomic on Dec 8, 2008

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Comments

6 thumbs!
Cruxis Mana | December 06, 2008

I didn't know you could hang and stone kittens to death in GTA.

Must have missed that part of the game.
0 thumbs!
Play ISDF | December 06, 2008

I'm sorry, where on the game does it say "Suited for years 6 and over"?

Honestly, this is so stupid. If only these parents weren't so damn irresponsible! Seriously, would any decent parents let some kids hang a kitten and stone it? And plus as Cruxis Mana said, where the hell do you do anything like that in the game? Gah, I'm so sick of these idiotic people blaming everyone and everything but their sweet ass selves.
0 thumbs!
Lucssj | December 06, 2008

Its not about that, Cruxis, its about the amount of violence ingame. Now, i am a fan of GTA, i love both Vice City and San Andreas. But(and most of you have probably heard this before) its the parents fault, for letting 2 kids of 6 and 7 years old, play a video game that is not intended for such a young gamer to play. Though... i admit, wen i was there age, i use to play Doom or Duke Nukem 3D, which themself were regarded as beeing prety violent at the time, so my parent were almost the same. Almost... because they never let me play more then a hour a day.
Hek, even wen i was there age i use to.. "make fun" of cats or dogs, but i never did go to far, and i even felt sorry sometimes. But to stone and hang a kitten? I had a conscience, and so did most of the kids my age i knew, at that age, were the hell is theyrs? God damn...
- 4 thumbs!
  ShadowJ | December 06, 2008
  
  you do realise that violence is down to a poor childhood, seeking attention and generally down to parenting.
  
  There is a mental and genetic side to violence, that's why we have shrinks trying to get into the minds of murderers, to unfold the reason why they killed or did what they did.
  
  This is just an easy escape route for the sheriff, the kids and the parents.
  
  I have watched 18+ movies and played 18+ games when I was 6, most I got were a few nightmares which had my gaming suspended until I was 11 (the 18+ games not all gaming) at 11 I was able to cope with it all and been playing 18+ games ever since
  
  The difference was, I had parents that supervised my gaming, hell they played the games alongside me and my brother. I still remember my brother coming home with Duke Nukem 3D one day and giggling like a couple of schoolboys because you could make a pixelated stripper pull off her top and twirl her tassles on her breasts when you gave her money and that was after the copious amounts of alien guts you painted the place with
  
  However My mum told me that when I was 3 years old that I threw my puppy against the radiator just because I could, obviously I didn't mean it and ironically enough me and that dog had a good 16 year friendship but how did I learn that was wrong? Simple...my parents scolded me and whacked my arse for it...these days you can't touch a kid because morons call it child abuse
  - 0 thumbs!
    BlackLabel | December 07, 2008
    
    Amen ShadowJ, growing up these days is too easy. Like you said when you were a child and when i was a child for that matter everything naughty was punished. I was never hit but the verbal punishment of that was enough, these days children don't even get that. Parents these days are too lazy and don't seem to care what their kids are up to, chances are once all is said and done these children will not learn from this, the parents will continue to let them get away with hell.
    - 0 thumbs!
      Lucssj | December 07, 2008
      
      Maybe to rich parents, this applyes. But not to parents i've seen here, in Romania. Not all parents are the same, or have the same ideas. My parents use to beat me up, wen i was a kid. Kids here are beeing beaten to death by there parents, because of there mistakes, everyday i turn on the news i see this. So, BlackLabel, ShadowJ, not all parents are the same.
0 thumbs!
Chris717 | December 06, 2008

Hahaha.

This is just getting funny.
6 thumbs!
Ovan | December 06, 2008

Next thing ya know they'll start blaming GTA for genocide in Darfur. This shit is getting old.

I mean, if you're going to blame a game, blame one that actually involves stoning & hanging cats.
4 thumbs!
Zero and X | December 06, 2008

The sheriff can go *bleep* himself, there aren't even any kittens in ANY GTA game.
0 thumbs!
dwg14390 | December 06, 2008

Here's an idea sheriff.

Maybe just maybe that in order for kids to do this, maybe they....oh I don't know......HAD PROBLEMS COMPLETELY UNRELATED TO ANY GAME!!!!

The fault is obviously the parents.

That or the boys were just molested and took there anger out on the cat.

But no lets just blame the video game, lets not look for the truth and tell it to the world, people were pure and wholesome before video games ever even existed right?

Wonder if they realise that the more "bad press" GTA is getting the more popular Rockstar is becoming so there just helping the game rather than hurting it.
8 thumbs!
Xenctuary | December 06, 2008

Poor cat. That totally sucks.
- 3 thumbs!
  dmf_dynasty | December 06, 2008
  
  Thank you. Nobody else posting comments seems to care about the cat.
  - 1 thumbs!
    Smiffers | December 07, 2008
    
    Don't you know? People care more about video games than the real world, especially if that game is GTA
  - 1 thumbs!
    chautemoc | December 07, 2008
    
    I'm not violent generally but I'm tempted to beat the hell out of that kid. Seriously, how do you go through with something like that?
1 thumbs!
Revenger of Wastelan | December 06, 2008

That's one sheriff off the "Sheriffs who know what the hell are they talking about" list.
0 thumbs!
pooOBKp | December 06, 2008

Those kids are idiots, I know that they're young and all but seriously, hanging and then stoning a defenseless cat? That is so jacked up. It could've been someone worthless like a criminal or something, then the hanging and stoning would've done something good, but a poor kitty??? I would kill those kids if it was my cat they did that too.
0 thumbs!
pwned227 | December 06, 2008

people should really take an IQ test before they play games like that but I don't see how hanging a cat has to do with gta maybe they have violent parents you never know I hate how people assume that gta is the root of all evil.
- 1 thumbs!
  Final Blade | December 06, 2008
  
  _{Stupidity knows no bounds. Trust me, its easy to fake an IQ test, especially when they're messed up anyway. They could be smart, but hiding it just to be more stupid. The Sheriff is the same, he must have assumed since the last thing they played was GTA, its that games fault.
  
  Oh and poor cat too. I had my cat since a kitten and has grown attached to me, but this is devastating.}
0 thumbs!
kik36 | December 06, 2008

I live in Arizona, and I can confirm that people out here are strange. (I grew up in Cali LMFAO). Mesa especially is a jacked up place (that's where my wife is from LOL). AZ just had that little boy shoot his dad and friend recently too....I think he was 8.
- 0 thumbs!
  chautemoc | December 07, 2008
  
  Note to self: stay away from Arizona.
  - 0 thumbs!
    kik36 | December 07, 2008
    
    That's a good note. Unless you wanna come hang out and kill a couple of beers with me. ^.^
    - 0 thumbs!
      chautemoc | December 07, 2008
      
      If I'm ever in the area...it'd just be up to you to fend off the crazies.
1 thumbs!
Big A2 | December 06, 2008

Nope, they should blame the parents for letting their kids play GTA.

Also, I agree with Cruxis Mana, they have absolutely zero reason to blame GTA for this.
0 thumbs!
DragoniteBallZ | December 06, 2008

You can stone kittens then hang them in GTA? I didn't know that?
0 thumbs!
Sonic Wave | December 07, 2008

Wow! I never knew GTA had animal cruelty in it. Wow... just sad.
- 1 thumbs!
  Raziel_326 | December 07, 2008
  
  It's really hard to tell if you were being serious or sarcastic with that statement. I'm hoping you were sarcastic.
1 thumbs!
Seeker X | December 07, 2008

Help from Child Protective Services??? So these kids execute a kitty for fun and they don't even get a slap on the wrist?? (No wonder the Juvenile Justice System doesn't work)

Send those little *bleep*ers to boot camp for a year with me as their drill instructor and see if they'll EVER look at an animal the same way.

On another note, great conclusion, Sheriff...it's pretty clear you're wild guessing and whatnot but yeah...real Sherlock.
1 thumbs!
nflsmc | December 07, 2008

This just goes to show. WIRELESS CONTROLLERS SAVE LIVES.
0 thumbs!
Darknet | December 07, 2008

I missed the part in GTAIV where I could get high or hand cats.
0 thumbs!
Aussie Legend | December 07, 2008

You gotta be kidding...

What next, blaming the CoD;WaW for World War 2?

Seriously -_-
- 1 thumbs!
  Big A2 | December 07, 2008
  
  No, blaming Tetris for kids throwing stones at each other in an apparent attempt for them to land in a pile lines up like Tetris blocks.
  
  Or even better, blaming Kirby for kids trying to put each other into their mouths.
  
  I could go on like this for days.
0 thumbs!
Paper Mario Dude | December 07, 2008

i LOVE how parents love to blame videogames on everything but then they will buy anything for their obese or spoiled little brat of a kid. and then they think its fine when they do something like this.
what is wrong with parents and these little bitches of kids today, they do whatever they want. they *bleep*ing killed a kitten, they are old enough to know that shit is WRONG.
those kids need some serious punishment, i dont care if they are 6 or 7, they know what they are doing. their little minds are too ignorant to realize what they are doing in their games isnt the same in real life.
this is horrible, there have been countless stories on these kinds of topics, kids killing other people, killing a baby because it was distrupting their GTA gametime.
GAME RETAILERS SHOULD NOT SELL M RATED GAMES TO LITTLE KIDS WITH THEIR MOTHERS, they need to at least sell it to high school kids with high school ID's becuase American kids are too fking stupid now a days to know anything.
- 0 thumbs!
  Final Blade | December 07, 2008
  
  _{The Sheriff actually blamed GTA not the parents in this case. But it is still their fault for allowing them to play it.}
0 thumbs!
Atomic | December 08, 2008

I cannot believe how many stupid people are out there blaming GTA for all of life's problems. I made a bomb. Oh, it's GTA's fault. I killed a cat. Oh, it's GTA's fault. They've got to take responsibility. I don't thing there are any animals at all in GTA besides humans.