5 Officers Charged with Masturbating a Dog

This is another case of  "just when you think you've seen/heard it all..." 5 Virginia Department of Corrections officers have been charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty - punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine - involving the fondling of a K-9 dog and videotaping two incidents. They are:

• Kelvin Thompson, 25, who works at Green Rock Correctional Center in Chatham;


• Melvin Boone, 40, who worked at the state prison in Sussex County;


• Adam R. Webb, 27, and Cheri Campbell, 35, who work at Nottoway Correctional Center; and


• Anthony Eldridge, 33, a sergeant who worked at Nottoway.

2 of the 5 charged, Melvin Boone and Anthony Eldridge, no longer work with the state. The Department of Corrections acknowledged that the matter had been investigated internally but declined to say whether Eldridge and Boone were terminated or left voluntarily. The department also would not say whether the other three were on leave. Trial is set for Nov. 20 for all except Webb, who will be tried Dec. 11.

Kelvin Thompson is accused of having "some sexual contact" with the dog - a male German shepherd or shepherd mix - while being videotaped by his fellow officers.

"Essentially, he was touching the dog's penis with his hand," Attorney Robert B. Beasley Jr. said. "The others were there filming it. That's actually how we learned of it -- there's a video."

Another corrections employee saw the video and reported it to a superior, Beasley said.  The events occurred between June 16 and Aug. 1, according to arrest warrants. All five officers were charged Oct. 2 by summons.

Apparently Kelvin Thompson was told that massaging his dog's genitals, would somehow make the animal easier to train. Dog trainers say that's obviously "not" a normal method of training but it is not unheard of:

"It has been used previously with very aggressive dogs to make them more submissive and passive, because it exhausts the dog but it's an inappropriate way of training dogs," said animal trainer Jemi Hodge.

Terry N. Grimes, Thompson's attorney, said his client planned to plead not guilty but admitted to fondling the animal. Grimes suggested the prosecution would have a difficult time proving animal cruelty. "The statute is not set up to deal with this type of thing. I don't think the legislature quite had this in mind," he said.

"Animal cruelty is conduct that is tantamount to torture. That inflicts pain. That puts the animal at risk of loss of life," said legal analyst Steve Benjamin.

In Virginia, bestiality is covered by crimes against nature, which could have resulted in a felony charge, according to state statutes. But a felony charge requires "carnal knowledge" of a "brute beast," implying intercourse, said Beasley, who added that he consulted with the state veterinarian's office before filing the charges.

Even if prosecutors do not win on the animal cruelty charges they may have another motive: Embarrassment.

"The embarrassment factor alone is going to be sufficient punishment for these individuals," said Steve Benjamin.

Even though what these officers did to their K-9 dog is no laughing matter and may still result in jail time, there is this episode from the series South Park that takes an irreverent and comedic look at this topic. Thanks to Mizozo.com I found this clip:

South Park - Red Rocket Video

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Feces Throwing Man Gets 31-Year Sentence

Weusi McGowan, 38, of San Diego, Ca. got his wish for a new trial and a new public defender after he smuggled a bag of his own feces into court. During a break in the proceedings he opened the bag and smeared the excrement all over the face and hair of  Public Defender Jeffrey Martin. He then threw the remains at the jury, some of which hit the computer case of one juror.

Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lawson said in court that McGowan clearly has mental health issues, but he committed an intentional act when he threw the feces.

Lawson said McGowan had previously wiped human feces on himself and was examined by doctors to ensure he was mentally competent to stand trial.

Three days earlier Judge Jeffrey Fraser had denied McGowan's request for a new trial. McGowan had claimed that some of the jurors had seen him in shackles while being escorted into the courtroom. The judge spoke with and dismissed the jurors in question and allowed the proceedings to go forward. McGowan also asked to have the public defender removed from his case. This was also denied.

According to court records, McGowan “became very boisterous and somewhat belligerent” after his request was denied. At one point, he told sheriff's deputies, “You better put the chains back on before I do something.”

McGowan was on trial for an October 2007 incident in which he allegedly hit his victim with a rock in a sock, then tied him up and ransacked his apartment, taking money and drugs. He then fled in the man's car. He was caught shortly after and charged with robbery, assault, kidnapping and auto theft.

McGowan case was transferred to Judge Frank Brown. This time, instead of going to trial, McGowan plead guilty to residential robbery causing great bodily injury and residential burglary. He also pleaded guilty to assault on a public official and assault on a juror.

Judge Frank Brown ordered McGowan to pay $129 to the juror whose case was ruined by the feces. He then sentenced McGowan to 31 years and four months in state prison.

Defense attorney Stephen Cline said McGowan’s medications were messed up when he was about to go to trial. When medicated properly, the defendant does “relatively OK,” Cline said.

“He’s mentally disabled,” the attorney said. “(But) that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know what he’s doing. He can be extremely violent if not medicated.”

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Honeymoon in Jail

I know love can make one do strange things and I would assume that a newly wed couple would want to spend some quality time together. Well, Brian Dykes and Mindy McGhee's idea of quality time landed the Tennessee honeymooners in big trouble on their wedding night.

Brian Dykes and Mindy McGhee were married Wednesday at the Angel's View Wedding Chapel in Sevierville's Black Bear Ridge Resort where  they also rented one of the resort cabins.

View Black Bear Ridge Resort in a larger map

According to a police report, a resort worker  noticed the couple's car back outside the chapel around 1:00 a.m. After the car left, the worker found the chapel had been burglarized and a lock-box with cash was missing.

Sevier County sheriff's deputies found Dykes and McGhee at a Pigeon Forge restaurant. The sheriff's department said the couple confessed and turned over a lock-box with nearly $500.

They are being held in the Sevier County Jail on bonds of $10,000 each. Hopefully they are in different cells, just in case they come up with another crazy scheme - like trying to break out of jail.

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Was Baby Yair Carrillo For Sale?

30-year-old Maria Gurrolla was not only devastated at the loss of her 4-day-old son, Yair Anthony Carrillo, she was also a bloody mess. A woman, later identified as Tammy Renee Silas,39, approached Maria at home at 3816 East Ridge Dr., Nashville, Tn., claiming to be an immigration officer who had come to arrest her.

The "immigration officer" proceeded to attack Maria, stabbing her multiple times. Maria managed to escape and ran to one of her neighbors for help. When she returned to her home she discovered that the "immigration officer" had left, taking Maria's 4-day-old son with her. An amber alert was also issued.

The police were able to locate and arrest Tammy Renee Silas, at her home in Ardmore, Alabama about 80 away. Silas is charged with the federal offense of kidnapping. She is also accused of attacking Maria Gurrolla with a knife and stealing her then 4-day-old baby. The FBI is holding Silas in the Morgan County Jail in Alabama. She'll appear in federal court when U.S. Marshals bring her back to Nashville.



Maria Gurrolla was notified that her baby was found. She went with her other 3 children, aged 3, 9, and 11 to get her infant son. After allowing her a brief visit with him, state welfare officials took him and the other three children and placed them in foster care, without much explanation except to say that it was for the safety of the children.

It was later learned that Department of Children's Services received credible reports that Maria was trying to sell her baby.

A statement released by DCS had said, in part, that "the Department of Children's Services still had concerns about the well-being and safety of (her other) children, based on credible and serious information that we are currently receiving."

See Video Clip Here

However, one day later, Metro police agreed that Yair should be returned to the custody of his parents and a Juvenile Court agreed. Maria Gurrolla has now been reunited with all of her children. A family member said that Gurolla and her family are currently staying with another relative right now because she is afraid to go back to her home where the attack happened.

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We're Not Married??

The date was Oct., 6, 1960. Frank and Betty stood before the late Rev. James Feehley at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church in Wilmore, Pa. with Betty’s 5-year-old daughter and two witnesses. They declared their love for each other and with the blessing of the Rev. became Mr. and Mrs. Frank Skrout. They were married....or were they?

“Not according to us, not according to our records,” Patty Sharbaugh, the elected Cambria County official in charge of the records, said. “They’re not married.”

No, they were not married, according to the state of Pennsylvania. The late Rev. who performed the marriage ceremony never sent in the required “return of marriage” document to the office of the Cambria County Register of Wills/Clerk of Orphans Court, as required by law. The certified marriage license does not exist. There is no record of Frank and Betty ever being married 49 years ago.

“All these years we’ve been living in sin,” the good-natured Frank Skrout said jokingly in an interview on the front porch of the their longtime Wilmore. “I might as well play the field. What the heck.”

View Wilmore, Pa. in a larger map

The Skrouts lived their entire life in Wilmore, a tiny borough in Cambria County, about 55 miles east of Pittsburgh. Frank went to work for Bethlehem Steel and Betty did sewing at factories in Johnstown, Windber and Portage. They have one son, a grandson, five grandchildren and five great- grandchildren.

They discovered they weren't married when Betty tried to apply for a pension due to her through the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. She needed her marriage certificate to show her married name. When she applied at the county court, no record of her marriage could be found. According to the county records, Frank and Betty Skrout were never married.

Tony DeGol, secretary for communications of the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese, said the marriage certificate should be available.

“Those records are the property of the parish and they can be found,” he said.

Patty Sharbaugh said if the Skrouts can locate the information from the church, she will record it, back-dating the marriage to Oct. 6, 1960.

“We’ve had a lot of fun with this,” Betty said. “But it’s like the priest told us: We were married. The records are there – somewhere.”

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