New Bedford Domestic Batterer Sentenced to Prison
Bristol County District Attorney’s Office
Thomas M. Quinn III
District Attorney
Press Release
May 24, 2017
A 30-year-old New Bedford man who strangled and assaulted his girlfriend this past January was sentenced to serve four to five years in state prison this week in Fall River Superior Court, District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.
John Herring pleaded guilty to a multiple-count indictment charging him with strangulation, assault and battery on a family or household member, aggravated assault and battery and reckless endangerment of a child.
On January 24, 2017 New Bedford Police were called by the victim’s friend stating that the victim had sent her a text requesting help. When police arrived at the home, the defendant answered the door and pretended nothing was wrong. Upon searching the home, police found the victim regaining consciousness while fully clothed in the bathroom tub.
The defendant had become angry with her on the phone because she was not able to pick him up from work after her car broke down. When he got home, there was another argument and the defendant punched the victim multiple times. One of the blows caused her to lose consciousness and sustain a concussion. He also threw her around the room and strangled her. She did not know how she got in the bathtub.
During follow up meetings with the victim, she also revealed there had been another incident on January 18th. On that evening the couple got into an argument and he strangled her repeatedly. He eventually left and she locked him out of their apartment. The defendant then came through the window of her son’s bedroom. When he came through the window, the victim was holding the child. After she placed the child down, he pushed her down causing her to fall on the boy’s bed and break it. The defendant then strangled her again.
After the completion of his state prison sentence, the defendant will then be on supervised probation for three years and must complete domestic batterers counseling.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Courtney Cahill and Jose Vazquez. The sentence was handed down by Judge Renee Dupuis.
“This defendant is a very violent individual who poses a danger to women. He brutally assaulted the victim after anger management counseling while he was on probation. The counseling obviously did not have any impact,” District Attorney Quinn said. “This sentence keeps him away from potential victims for a long period of time and is well deserved. I would like to thank the prosecution team for their efforts in obtaining a conviction in this case.”
Contact:
Gregg Miliote
Director of Communications
508-997-0711
774-292-9576—cell