Child Sexual Abuse

Friday, May 17, 2019 12:11 PM

Cases involving children and adults

There's a growing body of evidence that bestiality can be linked to human sexual assault. A recent study examining bestiality-related arrests in the U.S. determined that as much as 32% of the offenders also sexually abused children and adults. 

Recent accounts of animal sex abuse confirm that child sexual abuse and exploitation occurs with some regularity. Offender Christian ClewsIn California, horse boarding and training facility owner Christian Clews (now 54) has just received a reduced sentence related to child pornography charges filed in 2016 despite allegations that he sexually abused multiple 11-15 year-old girls over a 20-year period. The abuse included manipulating his young clients into having sex with his dogs, sex with his then-wife, and even sexually abusing his then-toddler son - all of which he caught on camera.  

In March, the Mesa, Arizona police department responded to a report that Michael Navage, 40 was sodomizing a cat while taking a shower. On June 3, Navage was charged with luring a minor for sexual purposes after he arrange to meet a 14-year-old girl who turned out to be an undercover officer.

On the same day Navage was arrested for solicitation, an Ohio man was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison for the attempted rape of a 15-year-old female. Douglas Waddell, 49 has a long history of criminal and antisocial behavior including the 1993 rape of an Ohio teen, and at least three "nuisance" citations for sexually abusing his dog.

 August last year, Indiana resident Christopher Hohnstreiter, 46 was arrested for soliciting sex from two children under the age of 16. During the investigation, officers found a video on his cellphone of his girlfriend Melissa Jo Turner, 46, lying naked on a bed with a Pit Bull puppy. Hohnstreiter can be heard in the background encouraging the dog to perform a sex act on Turner. 

Last month, a volunteer at the Rancho Cucamonga church in California was arrested and charged with raping a child under 10 multiple times. Christopher Sjaarda, 38 was also charged with bestiality and felony possession of child pornography. 

 


Cases involving multiple offenders, victims, or jurisdictions

Cases involving child sexual abuse and exploitation are often very complex, involving not just animal and child victims, but multiple offenders and multiple jurisdictions. This following case is sadly not uncommon:Zackery Blaine Perry, 32

2018-May - OK - Oklahoma firefighter had sex with his children and his dog. Zackery Blaine Perry, 32 was arrested in 2017 after a woman reported he had asked her for nude photos of her 8 year-old daughter. At the time, Perry was a firefighter with the Muskogee County Fire Department, and like many child predators, he found a way to be near children by dressing up as a clown to teach kits about fire safety. 

By the time Perry was arrested, he had downloaded or created nearly 3,000 child porn images, including some videos and photos he took of himself having sex with his Rottweiler, as well as images of an adult female having sex with the same dog. Equally disturbing were the thousands of images of child pornography found on Perry’s cellphone, some of which led to Melissa Marie (Humphrey) Skelton (26 at the time of her arreest).

Melissa Marie Skelton, 26In exchange for money, Skelton not only produced pornographic images of herself and her 6 year-old daughter and sent them to Perry, but she allowed him to spend time alone with Perry, knowing he was going to sexually abuse her. Chats and texts on Perry’s cellphone indicated Skelton was also in the process of grooming her two-year-old daughter for sex with Perry at a later date. 

During a search warrant of Perry’s home, investigators found 3 pairs of girl's underwear, a girl’s shirt, 3 digital cameras and a webcam, 8 smartphones, 4 computers and a tablet, 1 firearm, and lots of portable storage (eg thumb drives) containing about 3800 images of children that were nude or involved in lewd acts. Some of the images found were of Perry having intercourse with, or performing oral sex on, a 6 year-old female, as well as nude images of Skelton’s daughter in Perry’s kitchen.

Perry was charged with sexual abuse of a child under 12,  child sexual exploitation, posession and distribution of child pornography, and crimes against nature (bestiality). In a separate case, Perry and Skelton were charged with conspiracy and sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12.  Skelton was convicted in 2017 and sentenced to 30 years in prison, 85% of which must be served before she is eligible for parole. Perry was sentenced in 2018 to 55 years in prison, 85% of which must be served. Both Perry and Skelton will be required to register as sex offenders. 

At the sentencing hearing, Judge Thomas A. Alford commented, “In all my 30-plus years on the bench, I can say with certainty, I have never seen one situation that has left so many victims in its wake. In May, 2019, Perry requested a judicial review to modify his sentences; however, his request was denied.