Citation

Holoyda BJ, Newman W. J. Am. Acad. Psychiatry Law 2014; 42(4): 412-420.

Affiliation

Dr. Holoyda is a general psychiatry resident and Dr. Newman is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Training Director of the Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California-Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, Publisher American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

25492066

Abstract

Although societies' responses to bestiality have varied internationally, the response in the United States has typically involved condemnation and prosecution. Currently, there are 31 states with statutes prohibiting human-animal sexual contact. Despite the prevalence of antibestiality legislation, there is limited case law in the United States. Most commonly, bestiality arises in legal cases involving sexually violent predator (SVP) civil commitments. Identifying offenders who commit acts of bestiality is important, since these individuals may be at increased risk of committing a variety of other sexually and nonsexually violent acts against humans. Because of the different laws among the states, however, commonly used forensic risk assessment tools for sexual recidivism can yield different scores for individuals charged with or convicted of bestiality offenses. Forensic evaluators should consider this factor when conducting risk assessments. State legislatures should also consider modernizing their bestiality statutes to accord with current terminology and objectives for such laws.

Language: en