April 15, 2008

KETCHIKAN, Alaska -- A registered sex offender has been charged with two counts of criminal mischief after reportedly having sex with a dog that he tied to a tree. This marks the second reported case of sexual misconduct with an animal in recent months, as reported by Pet Pulse.

Last Wednesday, April 9, a witness allegedly saw Harold Simpson, 26, lead a white dog into the woods using a green rope; the dog was later seen running out of the forest.

The witness said she later saw Simpson do the same with a black Labrador retriever, persuading it to come up to him before tying a green rope around its neck, then leading it into the woods outside the small Alaskan village of Klawock.

In an affidavit, two other witnesses said they went looking in the woods and discovered a man having sex with the dog.

It was tied to a tree by a rope, and apparently had white tape restraining its muzzle.

According to Klawock Police Officer Chris Paulson’s report, he found the green rope and tape with black hair on it from the scene.

Simpson was later arrested and is being held on $10,000 bail. He has a previous history of sexual abuse, and is a registered sex offender after raping a young boy, twice, when he was only 16. The age of the boy he assaulted could not be confirmed.

There is no law in Alaska prohibiting sex with a canine.

“Mr. Simpson, however, poses perhaps the greatest threat to the community of any defendant that we will see in this court, or any other in Southeast, for some time,” said Scott.

It is well established that those who have a propensity for abusing animals, whether sexually, physically or otherwise, are likely to abuse humans as well.

In Paulson’s case, he is guilty of both.

The attorney went on to say that had a small child been present during the time of the incident instead of a dog, “the small child would have been found taped (and) ties in the woods.”

Pet Pulse calls to the Klawock police department and the Ketchikan Animal Protection concerning the sex, status and whereabouts of the dogs were not returned by press time.

In late February of this year, a Wichita man was arrested for a similar crime. Josh Coman, 20, was arrested after breaking into a woman’s garage. When she heard the commotion, the home owner went into the garage to find Coman sexually assaulting her female Rottweiler.

He was later charged with a misdemeanor sodomy charge. Coman also had a previous charge for sexually assaulting a dog. However, Magnum’s Law, which protects animals from abuse, does not include sexual assault.

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Matt Van Hoven, Pet Pulse, and The Associated Press contributed to this article.