Horse found strangled, penis cut off Peoria, IL (US) Incident Date: Sunday, Nov 21, 2004 County: Peoria Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Alleged: Steven M. Walters Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Case ID: 3217 Classification: Mutilation/Torture, Choking / Strangulation / Suffocation Animal: horse View more cases in IL (US) Login to Watch this Case

An Edwards man who was found guilty in an unusual case of sexually abusing horses 15 years ago was arrested again on Nov 23, 2004. Steven M. Walters, 55, was being held Wednesday at the Peoria County Jail on charges of animal cruelty and felony criminal damage to property. Bond was set at $15,000.

The arrest came after police interviewed Walters at his home on the evening of the 23rd in connection with the death of a horse over the weekend near Mapleton. The animal's penis had been cut off, and it had been strangled, police said.

Detectives were directed to Walters recently because of his past, police said.

In 1990, Walters, then 40, was convicted of six counts of misdemeanor criminal damage to property for tying wire around the penises of six geldings in the Brimfield and Dunlap area in fall 1989, according to court records and Journal Star archives. Geldings are castrated horses.

Police say Walters, who was cooperating with them, allegedly committed sexual acts to the male horses - in addition to mares - both in the past cases and the present.

Sheriff's detectives arrested Walters earlier this year in a similar incident involving a horse, but he was not charged, police said.

As of Wednesday, it was unclear why formal charges were not brought forward. Calls to the Peoria County State's Attorney's Office went unreturned.

Walters has given no explanation why he abused the horses, McCoy said.

His arrest in 1989 came after he apparently had abandoned his car near the residence of one of the horse owners. Walters did not own horses and apparently did not know any of the horse owners whose animals were damaged, police then said.

None of the six horses died, but they suffered injury, mostly in the form of swelling, according to Journal Star archives.

Walters was ordered to pay more than $4,000 restitution to the owners, serve one year of probation and perform 240 hours of community service. He also was ordered to submit to a psychiatric evaluation.

Police on Wednesday said Walters, who lives next door to his parents, had wanted to own horses and keep them in his back yard, but that his parents would not allow him.

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