GREENFIELD — An Orange man was sentenced to eight to 10 years in state prison after pleading guilty this week to various violent crimes.
Christopher Clayton, 35, appeared before Judge David Hodge in Franklin County Superior Court on Monday afternoon to change his plea on 15 charges.
Hodge accepted Clayton’s plea on three counts of intimidation of a witness, two counts of reckless endangerment of a child, two counts of assault and battery on a family or household member, two counts of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, two counts of violation of an abuse prevention order, and single counts of armed assault with intent to murder, mayhem, strangulation and assault by means of a dangerous weapon.
According to the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, the charges stemmed from a July 2024 domestic violence incident in Orange involving a 29-year-old female victim; two subsequent serious assaults in Orange in November 2024 involving the same female victim and her 35-year-old male friend; and witness intimidation of the female victim while Clayton was in custody.
In the November 2024 incident, Clayton wielded a machete and a hammer, inflicting serious injuries on the male victim. A Franklin County grand jury indicted Clayton in January 2025, with a second Franklin County grand jury indicting him in October 2025 for his conduct while at the Franklin County Jail and House of Correction.
Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Suhl argued that the defendant’s repeated violent acts toward the same victims, his infliction of serious injuries to the male victim, and his attempts to avoid accountability by intimidating a lead witness, were deserving of a significant state prison sentence.
Defense attorney Isaac Mass had argued for a lesser sentence of three to five years.
Clayton will be on probation for three years after his release, during which time he must complete the intimate partner abuse education program, participate in substance abuse treatment, and wear a GPS monitoring device to ensure he stays away from the victims.
“The commonwealth is pleased that the court accepted its sentencing recommendation in the case, which holds the defendant accountable for his serious pattern of physical, mental and emotional intimate partner abuse, as well as his infliction of serious injuries on another individual,” Suhl said in a statement.
This case was investigated by the Orange Police Department, and the victims were assisted by Victim Witness Advocate Kimberly Devine.