The owner of a pitbull that attacked and severely injured a 7-year-old boy in Niles was sentenced to community service and placed on probation for three years.

Twenty-five year old Dereck Shelby Vankirk, who appeared in court wearing a “Redneck lawn mower” T-shirt and blue jeans, will not be allowed to own or possess a dog while he serves out the probation term handed down by Judge Dennis Wiley Monday in Berrien County Trial Court.

According to court documents, Niles Police responded to a report of a dog bite at a residence in the 400 block of Fort Street in Niles May 26.

Officers arrived to find a woman holding her son. Both were crying and the boy had fresh blood on his face.

The mother told police that her son was sitting on the floor of the home when Vankirk’s one-year-old pitbull attacked the boy for no reason.

Police observed that portions of the boy’s upper and lower lips were missing as a result of the dog attack.

Police learned that the dog had bitten another boy about one month earlier and that Vankirk had successfully got the court to return the dog.

Assistant Prosecutor Amy Byrd said the dog had only been home for about one hour before it attacked the second boy.

Wiley said Vankirk had put a lot of effort into getting the dog back, only to see it injure someone else.

“These pitbulls are not to be trusted,” Wiley said. “You wanted to have that stupid dog in your possession and now look what you’ve got.”

In addition to placing Vankirk on probation, Wiley ordered him to complete 80 hours of community service, spend 60 days on electronic monitoring and pay $1,838 in court costs/fines.

Earlier this year Vankirk pleaded no contest to one count of owning a dangerous animal that caused

serious injury.

Vankirk said he did not think the animal was dangerous and that it bit the first boy because it had been provoked.

Vankirk said authorities had killed the dog.

Also Monday:

• Daniel Lane Spencer was sentenced to a minimum of 57 months in prison on one count of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree.

• Sheldon Michael-Thun McCord was sentenced to a minimum of 15 months in prison on one count of attempted criminal sexual conduct in the third degree.

• Brian Roark was sentenced to five years probation and 180 days on tether on one count of attempted larceny by conversion of between $1,000 and $20,000.