TAUNTON (WBSM) — A Taunton man was sentenced last week for witness intimidation after assaulting his pregnant girlfriend.

Kayvon Ashton, 38, pleaded guilty to district court charges of strangulation of a pregnant victim, assault and battery of a pregnant victim, intimidation of a witness, and assault and battery on a family or household member.

On November 26, 2023, at 2:46 a.m., police arrived at Ashton's home in Taunton following a neighbor's 911 call regarding what sounded like domestic assault.

The caller allegedly heard thrashing and someone yelling, "Get off me" and "Stop touching me." Police said that upon arrival the victim appeared visibly upset but denied any violence had taken place.

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At around 4 a.m., the victim appeared at the Taunton Police Department. She reported that she was terrified to say anything earlier when police were at the home.

According to the victim, Ashton threw her to the ground, slapped her in the face, held her down on the bed and strangled her. At the time, the victim was three months pregnant with Ashton's child.

The victim also told police that Ashton had threatened her and her family in the past regarding instances of domestic violence.

According to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office, the victim refused to cooperate with the prosecution and evaded summon attempts to appear at a scheduled trial.

During that time, nearly 300 phone calls from Ashton to the victim, manipulating her not to show up to court, were obtained. He continued to make calls despite a court order on January 16, 2024.

Ashton pleaded guilty to the changes and was sentenced to serve 18 months in the House of Correction and an additional 18 months of probation.

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Gallery Credit: Ariel Dorsey

Crime Rate Statistics in SouthCoast Towns

Here are the crime rate statistics for SouthCoast communities, utilizing data from 2022, the most recent year available. Annual data is from the Massachusetts Crime Statistics. The number of crimes is a data collection of total arrests, DUI/OUI charges, violent crimes, and hate crimes. The clearance rate is the number of charged crimes divided by the total number of crimes recorded. We listed the SouthCoast towns alphabetically.

Gallery Credit: Ariel Dorsey

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