Last week Andrew Harrison, 37 was sentenced to one year in jail and three years of supervised probation for possession and distribution of child pornography.  Harrison didn’t make any of the child porn, but what he did make was videos of himself in a sex act with his dog. Although he was initially charged with bestiality, the court determined that Harrison was at medium risk to reoffend with children, and the sex act with his dog was not prohibited under Canadian law.  The bestiality charge was stayed,

Prior to sentencing, Harrison told a probation officer he wasn’t sexually interested in children, and his defense attorney Brett Gladston told the court that his client began searching for “more and more taboo content” which “was a progression of secret dark fantasies”. 

What’s important about this case is this:  1) Harrison is likely more interested in sex with animals than sex with children; 2) Zoophiles often start having sex with animals around age 13, and don’t stop until they become sexually inactive around age 65; and 3) the Canadian definition of bestiality is so narrowly defined that it only prohibits anal penetration of a dog by a person.

Bestiality 101

There are several kinds of animal sex offenders. At one of the spectrum are people who rape, torture, and murder. At the other end of the spectrum are zoophiles.  It’s important to understand the distinction between zoophilia and bestiality because they are often confused, and the implications for treatment and sentencing are different. 

Simply put, zoophilia is a recurrent, intense sexual attraction some people have toward animals. For most zoophiles sex with animals is a lifelong fantasy, if not reality. Zoophiles see animals as their soul mates and sexual partners and, despite it being considered an abnormal sexual response, they are seldom diagnosed as having a mental health disorder.

Bestiality, on the other hand, is any sexual act involving a person and an animal, including production, possession, or distribution of animal porn.

Although zoophilia is not illegal, bestiality generally is.

The Language of Laws

In the United States, bestiality is referred to in numerous ways. It’s sometimes called sodomy, or a deviant sexual act, or a crime against nature. And just as the terms differ, so do the definitions. Some state laws require penetration, but leave out the mouth of an animal or a person as an orifice that can be penetrated. Some states still use the definition of sodomy to define bestiality, which is generally interpreted to mean anal sex. Some states don’t have laws at all, and require that an animal be injured or die before charges can be brought.

In Canada, the current bestiality law derives from an 1828 law prohibiting “buggery” with an animal. Buggery was interpreted to mean anal intercourse with an animal, in the same way sodomy was interpreted to mean anal intercourse with a human. Although terminology changed slightly over the years, the underlying premise was that anal penetration was the most heinous sex act one could do.

Testing the Limits

Numerous bestiality cases have been tried in Canadian courts. Most have resulted in convictions, but charges are sometimes dropped, and a few convictions have been appealed. The first successful appeal was made by D.L.W., a man who sexually abused his stepdaughters over a period of ten years.  His sexual abuse of the eldest girl sometimes involved the family dog. DLW attempted to make the family dog have intercourse with his stepdaughter, and when that failed, he spread peanut butter on her vagina and took photographs and videos while the dog licked it off.

In 2013, DLW was convicted on 13 counts of sex crimes against his two stepdaughters, including one count of bestiality for aiding and abetting his daughter in a sex act with a dog. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison, which included 2 years for the bestiality charge.  

In 2015, DLW appealed the court’s decision only as to the bestiality charge, and won. The Crown appealed the appellate court ruling in 2015 and lost in 2016. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that “penetration has always been understood to be an essential element of bestiality” and that it would take an act of Parliament to expand the definition and scope of the law.

The Problem with Consent

Sex acts can take many forms. And most acts between humans are consensual and therefore not illegal. Problems occur when one of the partners does not consent to the act, as in the case of rape, or intercourse with a child or person who is sedated or otherwise incapacitated. The issue is one of “informed consent”, meaning both parties must understand the consequences of saying yes. Just like children, animals cannot give informed consent and therefore require protection from predators.   

Problems with R.S.C. 1985, §§ 159 and 160 of Canadian law will almost certainly be addressed in some future legislative session.

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