A judge had harsh words—and a prison sentence—for a Virginia man who confessed to performing sex acts on his Rottweilers.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that Stephen Matthew Taylor, 31, was convicted of two counts of animal cruelty. The charges stemmed from an investigation of his roommate, Craig Knox, 36, on multiple charges, including rape of a child.
Police executed a search warrant at the Lakeside home in November 2016 while arresting Knox on a warrant. It was then that they also investigated Taylor and discovered images of bestiality with Rottweiler dogs on multiple devices in the residence, according to WTVR.
Taylor, who owned eight Rottweilers, admitted to performing oral sex on one of his dogs. Knox also reportedly told officers that he was aware of what was going on and that the men talked about sexually abusing the dogs.
All eight dogs were seized, and veterinarian determined that one of the Rottweilers had an infection in its penis, anal glands, and rectum. Assistant commonwealth’s attorney Nael A. Abouzaki said in court that two of the dogs had to be euthanized.
“I just don’t have any words,” Henrico Circuit Judge James Stephen Yoffy said after hearing the details of the case.
“This is disgusting.”
Abouzaki also said that 171 images involving Rottweilers were unearthed from various devices in the Lakeside home. Of those images, the attorney claimed that 10 depicted Taylor with a dog.
Defense attorneys disputed that it was Taylor in those images. Despite this, Taylor ultimately apologized for his actions and explained that he was “going down a very wrong path.”
“I really regret what I’ve done,” Taylor said.
Yoffy sentenced Taylor to 20 months in prison on Wednesday. Before sentencing, the judge also ordered the 31-year-old to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation.
“These acts were really despicable acts, absolutely despicable,” Yoffy said Wednesday.
Knox is not facing animal cruelty charges but is awaiting extradition to Pennslvania on child pornography charges.
Taylor is scheduled to appear in court on December 20.
[Featured Image: Stephen Matthew Taylor/TK]
