Miami, Florida – A licensed veterinarian based in Aventura, Florida who recorded himself sexually abusing dogs, shared the bestiality videos on-line, and collected on-line child pornography, was sentenced today in Miami federal court to over 21 years in prison.
Prentiss K. Madden, is guilty of producing videos of himself engaged in sexual activity with dogs and sharing them with others in chats. Madden kept these bestiality videos, as well as chats about bestiality, in his cellular telephones. Madden also is guilty of accessing a Dropbox account containing images of child pornography, receiving child pornography photographs and videos through social media chats, talking about child sexual abuse during chats, and storing thousands of child pornography images in his Dropbox account and cellular telephones.
On July 29, Madden pleaded guilty to three counts of receipt of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(2); one count of possession of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(4)(B); and one count of creation of an animal crush video, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 48(a)(2)(B), a federal statute that punishes acts of animal torture, including bestiality.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Office; and Alfredo Ramirez, III, Director, Miami Dade Police Department, announced the sentence.
HSI Miami and Miami Dade Police Department investigated the case, with assistance from Hialeah Police Department, U.S Customs and Border Protection, and Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Hudock prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
If you have information regarding this case, or you believe you or a family member may have been a victim, please contact the HSI tip line at 1-866-347-2423.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case no. 21-cr-20248.
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