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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Rodell Vereen and Sugar

Rodell Vereen, 50, of Longs, S.C. was having an affair with a 21-year-old, named Sugar. He would only come looking for her at night when no one else was around. He had to be very careful because he had been caught once before and got into a lot of trouble. However, he was confident that his lover would never tell on him, it was the other woman, Barbara Kenley, that he had to watch out for. The reason Rodell had to be so careful was that Barbara owned Sugar. Sugar was her horse and she certainly did not approve of the relationship.

What Rodell did not know was that Barbara suspected something was going on. She had noticed several weeks ago that Sugar was acting strange and getting infections again. She noticed things in the barn had been moved around; dirt had been piled up and bales of hay stacked near the horse's stall at her Lazy B Stables. Barbara suspected Rodell had returned to visit her horse, but she had no proof.

It was on Thanksgiving Day 2007 that Barbara had found him asleep in the hay by her horse, who had been locked in her stall. A mound of dirt and a stool were behind her. Rodell Vereen was arrested and charged with buggery. On July 21, 2008 he pleaded guilty.

He was sentenced to three years of probation, ordered to undergo mental health counseling, placed on the state’s sex offender list and told not to go near Lazy B Stables.

Barbara spent several nights at the stables, which are about four miles from her home, but didn’t find anything. So she installed surveillance cameras, and when she reviewed the footage from July 19, she couldn’t believe she was seeing the same man doing the same thing to her horse.

“Police kept telling me it couldn’t be the same guy,” Kenley said. “I couldn’t believe that there were two guys going around doing this to the same horse.”

Barbara now had her proof. She told officers she had video of Rodell Vereen "having relations'' with one of her horses on July 19, according to a police report. "I had given police surveillance video before and they weren't able to identify him,'' Kenley said. "And I wanted to catch him firsthand." She wanted to make sure he was arrested. So she staked out the barn.

On Monday night, Kenley said she went to check on the horses and saw an unknown vehicle parked near her property. Kenley found Vereen behind a barn where the horses are kept and pointed a shotgun at him. Kenley called police on her cell phone and waited for officers to arrive.

"He was very subdued,'' Kenley said. "He was like ... cold. He may have been in shock."

Kenley said she asked Vereen what he was doing at the barn and that he said he was looking for a bathroom.

"I told him he was full of crap,'' Kenley said. "He apologized and said he didn't mean to hurt me.''

When the police arrived, Vereen admitted to them that he did have "relations'' with a horse on July 19. He was charged with buggery, trespassing and probation violation. He is being held on $30,000 bail.

"That stable was my getaway, my stress relief,'' said Kenley, who has owned the stable for 20 years. "Everybody has a place they like to go to get away. Now it is totally destroyed. It is the only thing I have in life.''

"I have a false sense of security right now,'' Kenley said. "When they arrested him before I thought that was the end of it. Now all of my insecurities are back. I can't go out there at certain times because I am afraid.''

A family member said Wednesday that Vereen was diagnosed with a "mental disease'' more than 10 years ago.

"He's supposed to be on medication but I don't believe he's been taking it,'' said Beulah Vereen. "He's not a violent man, I know.''

Vereen has had mental problems for several years, but seemed to get better after getting court-ordered treatment last year, said his brother, the Rev. James Vereen, who lives just down the street from his brother and the stables.

"He's done all right when he was on the medicine. I don't know if he is still taking it," said James Vereen, who added his brother has kept to himself a lot in the last few months.

Vereen will have a probation hearing at 9 a.m. Monday at J. Reuben Long Detention Center in Conway, according to Richard Laskill, a senior agent for the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services.

A judge will likely determine if Vereen will serve the remainder of his three-year suspended sentence for the 2007 buggery charge.

"Hopefully he won't get out,'' Kenley said. "My goal is to get him away from me and my property.''

 "In 20 years I've never had a problem like this,'' Kenley said. "I never knew people did such a thing.''

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Justin Sharp - Bestiality and Child Porn

Justin Lloyd Sharp, 18, is one sick puppy. He is accused of having sex with his dog and possessing child porn. In fact, Justin was so proud of his relationship with his four-year-old male German Shepherd that he made a videotape of the encounter, which investigators found on his computer along with videos of preteen girls as young as 4 and 5 years old having sex with grown men. He was released from jail on $9,000 bond.

According to his arrest record Justin, born 4/10/1990, lives with his mother at 3197 N Meridian WY Apt C Palm Beach Gardens, FL. They owned two dogs: a 4-year-old male and a 8-year-old female both German Shepherds, and they also owned two cats. He was charged with one count of cruelty to animals, two counts of promoting sexual performance by a child and seven counts of possessing photographs of sexual performance by a child.

There is no doubt, because of the videotape, that Justin raped the 4-year-old male dog; which he has admitted to doing only once. However his own mother, during a related civil case, testified that Justin had told her that he’d had sex with that particular dog four times. Detectives said they had reason to believe that the eight-year-old German Sheppard was also abused. All the animals have since been removed from the residence and both (mother and son) have been barred for life from ever owning another pet.

Deputy Sheriff Eric Davis of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is deeply disturbed by the case:

"The animals can't speak, they can't call 911, this is case of a human being taking advantage of an animal that can't defend himself," said Davis.

In checking out Justin's online footprint it seems plausible that he used the screen name "Anubis35142." The website Truecrimereport.com posted the following:

A sexual attraction to animals is referred to as zoophilia. Searching for "Anubis35142" gave results for a message board devoted to giving users "Free Zoophilia and Animal Sex Information," and a post made by Anubis35142 on May 10, 2007. The title of the message thread was "Your First Time," and the meaning was obvious -- people were supposed to post about their first sexual experience with an animal. Anubis35142's post was succinct -- and nauseating: "Mine was with a Male German Shepherd! I Anally penetrated him." Anubis35142 tagged the statement with a pink, smiling emoticon surrounded by a cloud of hearts.