FALL RIVER — A 33-year-old Fall River man who sexually and physically assaulted his girlfriend's young children, killed the family cat and assaulted two family dogs was sentenced to serve 10 years in state prison, District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

Gary Rose pleaded guilty this week in Fall River Superior Court to a multi-count indictment charging him with rape of a child-aggravated by age difference, rape of a child with force, rape of a child, two counts of strangulation, two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person under 14, two counts of assault and battery, and one count of animal cruelty.

To protect the identity of the four young victims, no further details of the assaults is being released publicly at this time. In addition to the sexual and physically assaults of the children, the defendant was also convicted of poisoning the family cat with a fluid used in cars (the cat later died from the poisoning), kicking one family dog in the face, causing it to lose teeth, and kicking another family dog down a stairwell.

The defendant was arrested by Fall River Police in 2015.

In addition to the state prison sentence, Judge Thomas McGuire also placed the defendant on probation for seven years. The probation term will not begin until the defendant is released from prison. The conditions of probation include having no contact with the victims, be fitted with a GPS monitoring device, register as a sex offender, undergo sex offender counseling, batterers counseling and anger management counseling. The defendant is also prohibited from living with, working with or volunteering with children, cannot own pets and cannot work in any capacity with animals.

The case was prosecuted by Second Assistant District Attorney Silvia Rudman.

"The defendant physically and sexually abused young children who couldn’t defend themselves. He also killed and tortured several animals present in the home," District Attorney Quinn said. "This conduct demonstrates a sick and demented mind that harms children and animals. The ten year prison sentence without parole, and the probationary period will protect the victims, who have since moved out of the state, from any further abuse."

--Bristol County District Attorney's Office

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