Indiana prosecutors have charged four juveniles from southeastern Illinois with allegedly torturing and poaching more than 20 wild deer in the two states.
After an investigation by Indiana conservation officers, the Gibson County Prosecutor’s Office recently charged four juveniles from Mount Carmel, Illinois, with committing a combined 119 wildlife violations in Indiana and Illinois over a 2-year span.
Illinois conservation officers also investigated the alleged poaching in Mount Carmel, Illinois, and Gibson County, Indiana, starting in January. The investigations in the two states found that the juveniles illegally killed more than 20 deer in both states during the 2019, 2020, and 2021 deer seasons, officials said in a news release.
Prosecutors allege that multiple deer were shot from trucks, shot with the aid of spotlights at night, and intentionally run over with vehicles, and then stabbed or kicked to death.
The juveniles faces misdemeanor charges and violations that include: torture or mutilation of a vertebrate animal, use of artificial light to take deer, hunting without landowner consent and criminal trespassing.
