Molly's attacker, Steven Fleming, apologizes 'to all the dog lovers of Marion County'

FLORIDA -- A man sentenced Monday to two years in prison for stabbing a dog spoke out on Tuesday and apologized for his actions, talked about his mental illness and discussed his plan to create a nonprofit to prevent animal abuse.

Sitting inside a small room at the Marion County Jail, Steven Fleming, 50, said he is making no excuse for what he did, but that there is more to him than this incident.

“I apologize to my dog, I apologize to my girlfriend and I apologize to my friends and family, and I apologize to all the dog lovers of Marion County,” Fleming said.

Ocala police arrested Fleming on April 27, 2014, for abusing an American boxer/Labrador mix named Molly.

According to a police report, neighbors heard Fleming banging on the door of a home on Northeast 13th Street in Ocala. After Fleming gained entrance, the people reported, they heard screams and a dog crying. Molly was found bleeding from her face and head.

Police found a broken, bloodied baseball bat, along with splattered blood and drag marks.

Molly had a fractured skull and three stab wounds in her head, one of which penetrated her sinus cavity. She made a full recovery and is now living at a sanctuary in Anthony.

  

While Fleming said he is by no means innocent, he said that particular morning began with him and his girlfriend attending church and then going for a motorcycle ride. They became separated and a worried Fleming returned home to look for her.

Fleming said he knew if his girlfriend was home she would be in the back of the house, so he began banging loudly. He did not have his keys so he broke a window and entered that way, panicked for her safety. Then Molly came toward him in an aggressive manner, he said.

Fleming said he later began thinking that the loud banging and shattered window alarmed the dog, which led to her aggressive behavior. He said he did not use the baseball bat on the dog, but did use a small knife and poked her on the forehead, trying to reprimand her.

“I’ve never hurt anybody in the past. I’ve never hurt any animals in the past,” Fleming said, admitting that his actions were still wrong.

Fleming said that about 20 years ago he had to undergo chemotherapy, which caused him to deal with depression as a long-term side affect. In addition, he said, he has been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety and bipolar disorder. He said he takes prescribed medication.

 

Fleming speculates that if he had taken his anxiety medication once his girlfriend went missing that day, he might have been calmer and things might have turned out differently.

“I really hurt myself by doing this, my reputation, what people think of me,” Fleming said.

He said he is an active church member and recently received a card signed by several members of his church. Before the incident, he said, he frequented local farmer’s markets, selling Polish foods.

“I have a lot of friends in the community, both customers and other vendors,” he said.

Fleming said he also has helped with charity work, including as a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, the Humane Society and a local therapeutic riding organization. He said he is hoping to use this experience to create his own non-profit.

“I’m trying to start a non-profit to raise money to help prevent cruelty to animals and then take the money and disperse it amongst the different animals rescues or shelters or different (organizations) in the community,” Fleming said.

He also hopes to put his carpentry skills to work and make dog houses when he gets out of prison.
“I know it won’t correct what I did, but I hope it would at least allow me to give something back for my crime,” he said, adding that, perhaps, he could help start a dog park.

Fleming has been keeping up with current events during his nearly year-long jail stint while his case was pending. He said that last fall Anthony resident Sherry Spears Wilemon was sentenced to probation for fatally shooting her neighbor’s cat Smokey with a pellet gun and burying the animal.

Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick served less than two years for his role in a dogfighting operation, Fleming said. He named several other people who received a lesser sentence then he did, but said he knows the State Attorney’s Office received many calls from the public about his case.

Molly has recovered and is living at a sanctuary

On Monday, Fleming pleaded guilty to three felony cruelty to animals charges and one misdemeanor count of resisting or obstructing an officer without violence. Circuit Judge Jonathan Ohlman awarded Fleming a 354-day credit for time already served in jail pending resolution of the case.

Fleming said that at some point in the legal process, he accepted that he would be going to prison.

“I’m just trying to let the Lord take care of me when I go to prison,” he said. “I’ve had to pray a lot about all of this.”

(Orlando Sentinel - April 14, 2015)

UPDATE: 
Steven Scott Fleming
White male
DOB: 11-30-1964
Current prison facility: Apalachee East Unit
Current release date: 3-25-2016