Officials tout new bestiality law but say cases are tough to prove

Even as a Cleveland man faces charges for allegedly having sex with animals, local animal control officials say it will be difficult to prove cases under Ohio’s new bestiality law.

“Just like children who can’t say what happened to (them), it makes it very difficult to investigate these cases,” said Mark Kumpf, director of the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center.

Scott Turner, 47, of Cleveland, was charged last week by a Cleveland Animal Protective League

officer with engaging in sexual conduct with an animal, court records show. He was been ordered to appear in court Oct. 5 for a hearing on the second-degree misdemeanor charge. Turner could not be reached for comment.

Turner served 11 years in prison on multiple convic

tions — including rape and kidnapping — involving sex crimes against children. He went to prison in 2004 and was released under supervision in 2015, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correc- tions web site.

“He had written a letter in which he indicated that he had oral sex with the dog and that the dog was in his cus- tody,” said Sharon Harvey, president and chief execu- tive of Cleveland Animal Protective League.

Harvey said the league, which has enforcement power in animal cruelty cases, was provided with the letter. The dog is now with its owner, who is not Turner, she said. Turner is believed to be the first person charged

under Ohio’s bestiality ban, which took effect in March.

“Anybody who has rational thought cannot believe that this behavior is normal or should be condoned,” Harvey said.

Kumpf said some peo- ple who engage in bestiality argue that they love the animal and it enjoys the sexual contact.

“It’s beyond preposter- ous,” Kumpf said, “but they still believe it.”

After multiple failed efforts to ban bestiality, Ohio legislators in December passed the law making sex with ani- mals a crime. Previously, such cases were prosecuted under animal cruelty laws, which required showing that the animal was injured or suffered, Kumpf said. Ohio had been one of the few states that did not ban bestiality.

At least one Ohio municipality, Warren, had a bes

tiality ban prior to the state law. WKBN-TV reported on Wednesday that a 16-year-old boy had admitted to having sexual contact with a dog and faced charges there. Currently, bestiality is illegal in every state except West Virginia, Kentucky, Hawaii, Wyoming, New Mexico and Washington, D.C., according to Kumpf.

An abused animal “will act differently, display behavior,” said Kumpf, who added that owners may notice unusual injuries, odors or discharges.

“The other thing that often catches the bad guys is they are proud of what they do,” Kumpf said. “That’s one of the ways we catch folks is they tend to take pictures or document activities.”