Goulburn Valley man charged with bestiality on a dog he stole

Paul Walton, 53, pleaded guilty in County Court online on Monday to charges of bestiality where a carrot was used to sexually penetrate a dog, as well as theft of the dog, intentionally abusing an animal and possessing cannabis.

Department of Public Prosecutions prosecutor Stephen Devlin told the court Walton stole a female dog, aged about 12 years, from the Karramomus property of a man he knew early on April 6.

Police were called about the theft and the next day found the dog on the floor in Walton’s caravan with its legs tied up with black tape and rope and her mouth also covered in black tape, Mr Devlin said.

The court was told “a jar of lube and a carrot with blood on it” were also found on the floor.

Adult pornography was playing on the television when police found the dog, Mr Devlin said.

Five grams of cannabis was also found in a jar in the caravan.

The dog was taken to a vet, whose examination showed internal vaginal injuries, with a 3cm tear, as well as bruising around the anus and vagina, the court heard.

Walton told police in an interview the tape was on the dog to restrain it for “what I intended to do but never did”, Mr Devlin said.

The court also heard of Walton’s prior criminal history which includes bestiality charges against three dogs, where he was sentenced to three years and three months in prison – of which his barrister said about two-and-a-half years were for the “dog offences” and the rest for other offences which included breaches against the Sex Offenders Registry Act and pornography charges.

Walton was placed on the Sex Offenders Registry for life for these offences.

Walton’s barrister Philip Skehan said his client had been eligible for parole on his last sentence, but did not apply for it because there was a delay in him being able to complete the sex offenders program while in prison.

It meant there was no parole supervision after Walton was released from prison, Mr Skehan said.

He also said the sex offenders program in prison was group-based therapy and did not deal with Walton’s type of offending.

“It doesn’t have any aspect involving animals,” Mr Skehan said.

Walton’s barrister told the court his client had had one session with a local psychologist who had experience dealing with “zoological” issues, but had not been able to continue because he had then been arrested on these charges.

Mr Skehan asked the judge to consider a sentence that was combined jail time and a community corrections order as it would allow his client to receive one-on-one rehabilitation with the psychologist.

Mr Devlin, however, asked the judge to implement a prison sentence only.

He said while the current offences were “less serious” than the last ones, the fact they happened in a relatively short time after serving his sentence was concerning.

Judge Trevor Wraight ordered Walton be assessed for a community corrections order as “it may shed some light on issues that need to be dealt with”.

Walton will be sentenced on Friday, November 20.