A Florida veterinarian has been sentenced to 272 months behind bars for collecting child pornography and videotaping himself sexually abusing dogs.
Florida vet sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison on child pornography, zoophilia charges
Prentiss Madden was arrested in March and pleaded guilty a few months later in July to charges of child pornography and animal cruelty, according to prosecutors with the U.S.
Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida
Prosecutors said the 40-year-old man had thousands of graphic images showing infants and young children having sex with adults and made several videos of himself having sex with dogs, which he shared online and through social media.
He received many of the child pornography images and videos through Internet chat rooms, where he also frequently discussed sexually abusing children.
Madden was formerly medical director of Caring Hands Animal Hospital in Aventura, but was fired when officials there learned of the investigation into his illicit behavior.
“We at Caring Hands Animal Hospital are appalled by the nature of the charges against Prentiss Madden,” the hospital said in a statement following his arrest.
“Our legal team and every member of the Caring Hands family will do everything in their power to assist law enforcement and facilitate his investigation and prosecution.”
During his sentencing on Friday, Madden apologized to the people he wronged, adding that he had been sexually abused as a child and had witnessed his mother being severely beaten by his stepfather, the Miami Herald reported.
“This is never who I planned to be or thought I would be,” he said. “It doesn’t represent who I am as a person.”
