Owners Guilty in Dog Mauling of 4-Year-Old in Jackson

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — A Wyoming judge has found a 36-year-old man guilty of dog bites causing wounds in the 2018 mauling of a 4-year-old boy at a Jackson park.

Teton County Circuit Court Judge James Radda found Ryan J. Watts guilty of the misdemeanor charge last Friday after hearing about seven hours of testimony during a bench trial.

A co-defendant, 27-year-old Sarah Celestine, who owned a second dog involved in the Aug. 19 mauling, pleaded no contest to the same charge.

Both will be sentenced April 17. Under Wyoming law, the dogs can be destroyed and the owners fined up to $200.

The boy's mother testified he has required therapy.

Attorneys said Celestine's dog is a husky mix and Watts' dog is a smaller mutt.