Winthrop Sentenced to Probation after Pleading No Contest in Domestic Violence Cases

A Newport man with several domestic-related arrests will serve six months of probation after pleading no contest to a charge of disorderly conduct in Superior Court last week.

The charges stemmed from his January arrest for allegedly breaking into a city apartment and assaulting another man.

Court records show that Christian Winthrop, widely known as the owner of The Newport Buzz wesbite, was sentenced by Newport County Superior Court Judge Stephen P. Nugent on May 7 to six months of probation and ordered to complete community service. Winthrop withdrew a previous plea of not guilty to all charges to enter the no contest plea.

A charge of felony domestic breaking and entering was dismissed.

According to a police report, police were dispatched to the apartment at around 2:25 a.m. on Jan. 24 for a report of an assault and the victim, identified as a 47-year-old Newport man, told police that he was at a female friend’s house when Winthrop entered the apartment, called the woman obscenities, and then assaulted him.

The victim told police that he was thrown down the stairs after being punched several times.

At the time of his arrest, Winthrop was free on personal recognizance following his arrest in September on charges of felony domestic breaking and entering and domestic simple assault. For those charges, he pleaded no contest to a charge of simple assault. The breaking and entering charge was dropped. He was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to obtain substance and alcohol abuse counseling.

In that incident, police said Winthrop allegedly broke into the woman’s apartment by cutting a screen and crawling through a window before throwing a drink at her.