A Geneva man has pleaded guilty to a bestiality charge, which prosecutors say involved sexual contact with a dog.
Geneva County District Attorney Kirke Adams said 40-year-old John Edward Medley pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor bestiality charge in front of Circuit Court Judge William Filmore.
Adams confirmed Medley received a 12-month sentence in the Geneva County Jail, which was ordered to be served through 15 consecutive weekends in jail. The sentence was ordered to begin the weekend of Friday Jan. 8, 2016.
Medley will then be placed on two years unsupervised probation. Adams said as part of the guilty plea the court banned Medley from owning any animals, and forbid him to regain possession of the victim in his case.
“He had sexual contact with the dog, but no actual intercourse,” Adams said. “There was no evidence he ever had sex with the dog.”
Geneva police originally arrested Medley in June on an animal cruelty charge. D eputies with the Geneva County Sheriff’s Office later served him with a misdemeanor warrant charging him with bestiality.
Law enforcement initially charged Medley with having sex with Buster, his wife’s dog, after he believed she was paying the dog more attention than him. Adams said the dog, a Shih Tzu, was not injured as a result of the bestiality offense.
Adams later learned the offense actually only involved sexual contact with the dog, which he said still fit the Alabama bestiality law.
Adams said Buster now lives with relatives in the Dothan area. He also said Medley will not have to register as a convicted sex offender.
Records show Medley was also ordered to pay a $250 fine, a $50 victim’s compensation fee and a bail bond fee of $250. Adams said there was no restitution in the case because the dog was not taken to a local veterinarian for treatment to any injuries.
Attorney David Harrison, who represented Medley in court, said his client was essentially only sentenced to serve 30 days in the county jail.
“At the end of the day he’s serving 30 days instead of 365 days ,” Harrison said. “ He and his wife have salvaged their relationship, and the dog has been re-homed. Not only does he have to serve 30 days in jail but he lost his job after he pleaded guilty at Wise Farms.”
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