Dog Molester Won't Have to Register as Sex Offender
The Kansas Supreme Court has ruled that a repeated dog molester won't have to register as a sex offender as thought to be required under state law. The man, Joshua Coman, has twice been convicted of molesting a dog.
The second time, his roommate walked in on him "penetrating" her female Rottweiler with his finger.
Imagine if the dog had fought back.
This disturbing incident happened while Coman was on probation for an earlier conviction involving a dog, reports The Wichita Eagle. In lieu of another trial, he chose to strike a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal sodomy.
Kansas law defines sodomy as any homosexual conduct or sexual contact with an animal, according to Reuters. How nice.
The courts must have been perturbed with the two-time dog molester. Both the district court and appellate court ordered Joshua Coman to register as a sex offender. The Kansas Supreme Court disagreed, finding that misdemeanor sodomy does not require registration. Even if it is really, really gross.
The result is not exactly surprising. While felony sex crimes tend to warrant a place on the sex offender list, misdemeanors often do not. And misdemeanors with a canine victim? Well, at least it wasn't a human.
Before you go looking for brain bleach, there's another fun factoid about this case. Joshua Coman tried to argue that the Kansas statute was constitutionally invalid under Lawrence v. Texas. That case struck down a law that prohibited consensual homosexual sex. The holding, he claimed, should also apply to dog sex.
Related Resources:
- Kansas Supreme Court rules that repeat dog molester can avoid sex offender registration (Sentencing Law and Policy)
- Lawrence v. Texas (FindLaw)
- Did Florida's Anti-Bestiality Law Outlaw Sex Entirely? (FindLaw's Legal Grounds)