Dog sexually assaulted, videotaped, possession of child porn
Palm Springs, CA (US)

Incident Date: Thursday, Jun 16, 2011
County: Riverside

Charges: Misdemeanor, Felony Non-CTA
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Joel Bradley Simpson

Bail was set at $40,000 Friday for a Palm Springs man who earlier this week skipped a court date relating to accusations of child pornography and committing bestiality on a dog.

Joel Bradley Simpson, 35, failed to appear in court Tuesday for a felony settlement conference on a felony charge of possessing child pornography and a misdemeanor count of performing sex acts on an animal.

However, before a bench warrant had even been processed, Simpson had already been arrested by Palm Springs police on suspicion of unrelated drug violations.

Handcuffed in court Friday, Simpson pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of possessing controlled substances and misdemeanor charges of possessing drug paraphernalia, a hypodermic syringe and being under the influence of controlled substances.

Simpson had been free on $5,000 bond after being arrested on the child porn and animal sex accusations.

Police responded at 7 p.m. Tuesday to a report of a suspicious person at a Starbucks in downtown Palm Springs. Officers allegedly found Simpson in possession of a controlled substance and took him into custody.

Simpson was first taken to Desert Regional Medical Center to be treated for unspecified injuries before he was transferred to the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

Simpson was initially arrested June 16 at his home in the 1600 block of Via Entrada, according to Palm Springs police Officer Rhonda Long.

A tipster told police Simpson had child pornography in his home, she said.

"A search warrant was served at Simpson's residence, and he was found to be in possession of several disturbing video and photograph files of child pornography," Long said. "Simpson was also in possession of a video (in which he was) performing sex acts with an animal."

She said the animal in the video was a dog.

Police are still looking for the children depicted in the files stored on Simpson's computer. Long said their ages range from infancy to pre-teens.

Simpson pleaded not guilty to the sex crimes June 20 and bailed out four days.

None of the victims in the photos or videos have been identified, so police asked anyone who has information to call Detective Frank Guarino at (760) 323-8145 or report information anonymously through Valley Crime Stoppers by calling (760) 341-7867.

References

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