Naperville woman charged with felony cruelty to dog

A Naperville woman has been charged with felony-level aggravated cruelty to animals after someone told police they suspected she was abusing a dog.

Christina Helm, 32, turned herself in to police Tuesday, according to a news release from Naperville police. The charges were filed on May 23. Helm lived in an apartment in the 100 block of Testa Drive at the time.

The tipster reported the suspected abuse in October 2023. He said they had agreed to take care of Olive while owner Helm was on a business trip. Olive was a pit bull mix, according to court records.

Olive was emaciated, had trouble walking, and had open sores on her hip bones, according to court records. She weighed 27 pounds. Veterinarians said the sores were akin to human bed sores and likely happened by having the dog caged in one position too long.

Olive was immediately taken to an emergency veterinary hospital, where she was treated for starvation and dehydration. Since then, she has fully recovered, was released to a shelter, and has been adopted by another person, according to police.

Helm is charged with three felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and three misdemeanor counts of violation of owner’s duties. She is also charged with misdemeanor endangering the life or health of a child because a minor lived in the house when the abuse was allegedly being committed.

Photographs submitted to the court in a petition to detain Helm pretrial showed clutter and trash throughout Helm’s apartment. According to a pretrial detention petition, an apartment manager told police that dog urine had once leaked through the floor of the second-story apartment, according to the petition.

Police reported the condition of the apartment to the state Department of Children and Family Services, according to court records.

Prosecutors asked to have Helm detained pretrial on the grounds of dangerousness. They said it would be difficult to monitor whether she gets another animal.

They also attached a report from the Animal Legal Defense Fund about the link between abuse of animals and violence toward humans in a home, including psychological trauma suffered by children.

Judge Joshua Dieden ordered Helm to be released, however, on the condition that she does not have any animals and does not consume any unprescribed controlled substances.

Her next court date is June 24.