Personal Injury and Criminal Defense Legal Blog

CONVICTED FELON ARRESTED ON NEW CHARGES OF OPERATING A BUSINESS THAT ALLOWED ITS CUSTOMERS TO PERFORM SEX ACTS WITH FARM ANIMALS

Federal authorities arrested Douglas Spink, alleging he was advertising his farm animals on a website for sexual activities, which constitutes the crime of bestiality. Spink was using the internet to encourage people from all over the world to visit his farm in Whatcom County, Washington and have sex with his farm animals for a fee.

Following the arrest, a search warrant was executed and federal authorities discovered videos of images of a man have sex with several dogs. The individual in the video was found on the property and taken into custody. He could be criminally charged with three counts of bestiality. He is being held in the Whatcom County Jail with a $150,000 bail. This is a very high bail for even very serious violent offenses involving human victims. (Criminal Bails are determined based on three issues, first, risk of danger to the community, second, risk of flight by the defendant, and third, risk of the defendant intimidating witnesses to the alleged criminal activity.) As the criminal defendant is from Britian, the Court may consider him a risk of flight.

Spink, already on probation for a prior drug trafficking charge, was sentenced in 2005 to approximately three years in federal prison. While authorities found only the two defendants on the rural property, they are searching computers and videos for additional visitors to the site. Animals found on the scene were taken into protective custody, including a horse. As the Federal investigation continues, it is likely additional people found to have visited the site and possibly to have engaged in illegal activities will be charged or at least interviewed in the criminal investigation.
The allegations are similar to the 2005 case in Enumclaw in which a man died after having sex with a horse. During the criminal investigation of the Enumclaw case, hundreds of videos depicting men having sex with horses were discovered. In 2006, in response to the Enumclaw case, the Washington state Legislature made bestiality a Class C felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.