GREENFIELD, MA (FRANKLIN COUNTY NOW) — 35 year-old Christopher Clayton, of Orange, pleaded guilty to multiple violent offenses in Franklin Superior Court last week.
Judge David Hodge sentenced Clayton to eight to ten years in state prison for charges related to three domestic violence incidents from 2024 involving a 29 year-old female victim and her 35 year-old male friend.
From the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office:
Orange man sentenced to prison after violent assaults
GREENFIELD – Orange resident Christopher Clayton, 35, pleaded guilty Monday to multiple violent offenses. Franklin Superior Court Judge David M. Hodge sentenced Clayton to 8-10 years in state prison after accepting his guilty plea to the following charges:
• Armed assault with intent to murder
• Mayhem
• Strangulation
• Reckless endangerment of a child (two counts)
• Assault and battery on a family or household member (two counts)
• Assault by means of a dangerous weapon
• Assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon (two counts)
• Intimidation of a witness (three counts)
• Violation of an abuse prevention order (two counts)
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 House of Correction.
The Court adopted the sentence requested by Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Suhl, who argued that the defendant’s repeated violent acts towards 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 3-5 years.
Clayton will be on probation for three years after his release, during which 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 in the case.
Deputy District Attorney Suhl commented, “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.”
This case was investigated by the Orange Police Department and the victims were assisted by Victim Witness Advocate Kimberly Devine.
