Parkersburg Police Detective Mike Brown, left, handcuffs Bailey Keel after Keel’s arraignment before Wood County Magistrate Robin Waters Friday on charges of animal cruelty and possession of a controlled substance. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

PARKERSBURG — A Parkersburg man was charged Friday with animal cruelty after a video allegedly showing him brutally abusing a kitten went viral.

Bailey E. Keel, 23, last known address 1310 Oak St., was arraigned in Wood County Magistrate Court on a felony count of animal cruelty and two counts of possession of a controlled substance and remanded to the North Central Regional Jail on a $105,000 bond.

A video posted to YouTube Wednesday from a home security camera in the 1000 block of Laird Avenue shows a man investigators say is Keel carrying a black-and-white kitten and slamming it into the ground multiple times. A criminal complaint filed in Magistrate Court says it appears Keel also put a cigarette in or around the kitten’s face.

After being contacted by multiple people who saw the video online, the Parkersburg Police located the source of it and obtained a copy, according to a release from Chief Joe Martin. Keel was identified as a suspect and arrested Friday in the 800 block of 14th Street.

Suspected marijuana and methamphetamine were found in Keel’s pocket when he was arrested, a criminal complaint says.

Bailey E. Keel

Parkersburg Police Detective Mike Brown said the department received a number of tips from concerned citizens.

“(The) phone (was) ringing off the hook over there at the station,” he said.

Brown said he had been unable to determine the cat’s whereabouts or condition at the time of the arraignment.

Court records show Keel was sentenced in 2018 to a year of home confinement after pleading guilty to an information charging him with petit larceny.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.