Vet gets sentence for son’s caging

The boy and his mother have moved to another residence.

BOARDMAN — A veterinarian who had been accused of placing his son into a dog crate, has been placed on probation for a year.

Joseph Mullarkey, 39, of Sylvia Lane had been charged last month with felony child endangering, accused of placing his 4-year-old son into a dog crate as punishment.

Atty. Dennis DiMartino, who represents Mullarkey, said that his client pleaded guilty Tuesday in Mahoning County Area Court to attempted child endangering, a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail with 87 of them suspended. He was given credit for the time he served in jail after his arrest.

DiMartino said that the statute to which his client pleaded says that a child was placed into a situation that, if continued, could have resulted in physical or emotional harm.

He said that Mullarkey had been drinking when he awoke early one morning in November to find the child reaching into the knife drawer. He became angry and not wanting to spank the boy, placed him in the dog crate for what he expected to be a few-minute time-out, DiMartino said.

But he fell asleep and was awakened by his wife about two hours later. The boy was covered in dog hair and his pajamas were soaked in what authorities believe was his own urine. The boy wasn’t injured.

The boy’s mother reported the incident to police a couple of weeks later, and Mullarkey was arrested at work.

DiMartino said that it was a humiliating experience for Mullarkey, who had no prior criminal record. The veterinarian no longer works at Ebert Animal Hospital, and his wife and son have moved to another residence.

Mullarkey is undergoing alcohol counseling and taking parenting classes, the attorney said.