James Charles Buckley was born in 1971. By the age of 18 he had begun spying on unsuspecting women through bedroom windows. By 1995, when Buckley was 24, he had been convicted twice for trespassing as well as bodily harm. Four years later, Buckley escalated to rape. 

Between March 6, 1999 and January 21, 2000, Buckley raped three different women. The first was a 20-year-old who was walking home alone around 4am. Buckley grabbed her from behind and forced her to the ground, using the strap on her shoulder bag to choke her while he raped her anally and vaginally. The second was a 67 year-old woman who sleeping alone in her bedroom. Around 5am Buckley broke through the bedroom window and tried to sodomize the woman. When that was unsuccessful, he dragged her into the back yard, first shoved his penis in her mouth, and then raped her anally. The third female was 15 – just barely a woman. She was walking home around 1am when Buckley chased her, forcefully knocked her down breaking her leg, and then despite her cries of fear and pain, repeatedly raped her anally and vaginally. 

Admissions of bestiality and rape

When Buckley was arrested on rape charges, he was ordered to undergo several psychiatric evaluations, during which he admitted he had regularly performed violent sex acts on animals since the age of 15. He told the doctor he sometimes killed the animals prior to having sex with them, and his acts were similar to his later rapes. 

Psychiatric evaluations in 1999 and 2000 indicated Buckley had an emotionally unstable personality and a dependence on alcohol. He was also diagnosed with anti-social personality disorder, voyeurism, and zoosadism (sexually motivated sadistic acts on animals). One doctor noted that “when drunk, he appears to be unable to restrain himself from very severe violent acts, and is even unable to discriminate during these acts as to whether his victims are human or animal”. The doctors generally concurred that Buckley had a high risk of reoffending.

In 2003 Buckley pleaded guilty to three counts of rape and grievous bodily harm, burglary, and disabling with intent to commit a criminal act. The prosecution asked for a life sentence, but the judge considered imposing 22 years for each count of rape, but decided that Buckley should receive an “indefinite sentence”. 

Sentencing in Ausutralian Courts

In Australia, serious offenders are often given long sentences that must be served cumulatively, rather than concurrently. So in Buckley’s case, he would have been facing at least 66+ years, had the judge sentenced him as a serious offender. Under a life sentence, Buckley would serve a minimum of 25 years, likely without parole. Indefinte sentences are given only under exceptional circumstances where it’s believed the offender could represent an ongoing threat to the community, even after serving a lengthy sentence. 

Once an indefinite sentence is imposed, it is the court who decides, rather than the parole board, whether release is ever appropriate, and Buckley appealed. The Supreme Court of Queensland reviewed the case and in 2008. Taking into account Buckley’s guilty plea and limited criminal history, and the fact that his admissions of bestiality were never proved, they ruled that the 22-year sentence for each count would have been appropriate, and those sentences could be served be concurrently.

Although it was not clear whether the trial court judge based the indefinite sentence in part on Buckley’s admission of bestiality, the Supreme Court justices argued that Buckley should not be punished “additionally” for that admission, and that “any feelings of distaste or revulsion concerning such activities should not enter into the sentencing process”.  

In 2014, Buckley recanted his admission of bestiality. He said he was “took the advice of other inmates” and fabricated the story to get a lighter sentence. He is currently serving a 22-year sentence, and will be due for release in 2025.