NSW Government forced to scrap bestiality law change after protests
A bid by the State Government to water down penalties for those convicted of bestiality - or the sexual abuse of animals - have been dropped after protests from animal rights groups.
NSW
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Animal activists have forced the state government to back down on plans to weaken penalties for bestiality, as a Byron Bay man awaits sentencing for having sex with dogs.
Bestiality, or the sexual abuse of animals, is heard in the District Court where offenders can be sentenced to up to 14 years in jail if convicted.
The state government last week attempted to change it to an offence dealt with in local courts — where the maximum penalty is two years — as part of a move to reduce the backlog of cases in the District Court system.
Attorney-General Parliamentary Secretary Natalie Ward said District Court matters were also dealt with more slowly and at great expense.
According to the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, there have been 139 incidents of bestiality recorded in NSW since 2000, or around seven cases per year.
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This year, Byron Bay resident Dean Anthony Sellenthin, 43, was charged with 221 offences, including having sex with two dogs 19 times during a seven-year spree of deviant behaviour.
Police alleged Sellenthin had sex with a female golden retriever and a black, short-haired male dog called “Bear”.
Sellenthin, who appeared in Lismore District Court on Thursday, was also charged with possessing child abuse images.
In July, he pleaded guilty to 96 charges committed between 2009 and 2017.
Sellenthin was ordered to remain in custody ahead of his sentencing on December 18.
Animal Justice MLC Emma Hurst said the sexual abuse of animals had been linked to people who also committed other violent crimes.
“There are on average seven incidents of sexual abuse of animals a year, but these are only those that are caught,” she said.
She said the bestiality amendment caught many Upper House MPs by surprise, given the mundane nature of the other elements of the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill.
In agreeing to withdraw the item, Ms Ward said the item was included within the Bill at the request of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions as a means to reduce the District Court backlog.
She denied the move would have watered down the penalties, given most convictions resulted in sentences equivalent to those available to a Local Court.
“One of the ways the government is reducing the backlog is by amending legislation to replace indictable offences with table offences where sentencing data indicates it is appropriate to do so,” she said.
“Sentencing trends indicate that penalties imposed on people convicted of the offence of bestiality fall within the sentencing jurisdiction of the Local Court.
“Notwithstanding this, and acknowledging the seriousness of the crime, in some circumstances the amendment would have maintained prosecutorial discretion to try a charge of bestiality on indictment in the appropriate circumstances.”
Since 2016, the government has spent more than $264 million to tackle the District Court backlog, including the appointment of 12 new judges.