Bestiality and child pornography
Harrison, MI (US)

Incident Date: Thursday, Feb 17, 2005
County: Clare

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged:
» Rebekah J. Oakley-Pyle
» Malvin D. Pyle

A child porn sting that led to bestiality charges has taken a new twist as authorities were seeking charges on June 22, 2005 against a Clare County 911 dispatcher over a tip that helped two suspects skip town earlier this year.

Federal agents who led the sting arrested a 51-year-old Clare County woman about 8:30 a.m. today. She will remain jailed as prosecutors consider obstruction of justice charges, said FBI Supervisory Senior Resident Agent Walter H. Reynolds, head of the agency's Bay City office.

Police in February had raided a Harrison residence on a search warrant. The home was recently vacated, and officers turned up evidence not only of child pornography but also of bestiality.

The discovery has triggered one of the rarest prosecutions in state legal history.

Authorities believe the dispatcher got wind of the Feb. 18 raid and allowed Rebekah J. Oakley-Pyle, 44, and her husband, Malvin D. Pyle, 50, to flee to Oklahoma. The pair was arrested upon their June 20 return, Reynolds said.

The case began with another tip -- one from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children in Virginia -- warning federal officials the duo was suspected of involvement in child pornography, Reynolds said.

Clare District Magistrate Rick Laboda arraigned the couple Tuesday. Oakley-Pyle faces one count of bestiality, while Pyle faces 14 child pornography counts. They remain jailed on bonds of $25,000 for Oakley-Pyle and $50,000 for her husband.

Carrying a 15-year prison sentence from a criminal statute dating to 1846, bestiality prosecutions are extremely rare in Michigan, said Wayne State University Law School Professor David Moran.

By contrast, more commonly used animal cruelty statutes carry sentences of two to four years, with a five-year term for harming or killing a law enforcement animal.

The crime of bestiality considers more than harm to an animal, Moran said. Oakley-Pyle had a sexual encounter with a dog, the warrant charging her states.

"The traditional harsh punishment reflects society's abhorrence at the idea," he said. "It's seen as a sex crime on par with rape, or close to the penalties with rape, where you have a human victim."

Rape is punishable by up to life in prison.

The lone bestiality case in Michigan history to reach the state Court of Appeals occurred after the 1975 conviction of a Macomb County man, Moran said. The man eventually got a new trial in 1977 and served just two years, but he originally was sentenced to 7 1/2 to 15 years in prison, Moran said, citing state case law records.

"Incredibly, the first published bestiality case in Michigan history was in 1977," he said. "That's the precedent."

References

• « MI State Animal Cruelty Map
  « More cases in Clare County, MI

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