Law enforcement and mental health experts say the community should be concerned about a man having a ****** attraction to animals who currently is being held for molesting a deer carcass.
On Oct. 11, Bryan James Hathaway, 20, pleaded innocent to assaulting the carcass, which a criminal complaint says he found it in a ditch along Stinson Avenue while riding his bike.
Hathaway was recently released from prison after serving an 18-month prison sentence for killing a horse. During an investigation of that incident, Hathaway said he wanted to have *** with the animal.
Bestiality — using animals for ****** gratification — is disturbing to people, said David Swenson, a forensic psychologist and associate professor of management at the College of St. Scholastica. Historically, there have been strong laws against it, and most states today prohibit abusing a lower creature in that manner.
“If somebody is killing animals, that shows a certain lack of empathy, a certain kind of predatory behavior,” Swenson said.
Hathaway currently faces a misdemeanor charge of ****** gratification with an animal, which carries a maximum penalty of nine months in jail and $10,000 fine. However, because of his previous conviction, he could be sent to prison up to an additional 24 months.
According to the criminal complaint filed in Douglas County Circuit Court:
Superior Police Officer Adam Poskozim and two Department of Corrections agents met with Hathaway at his transitional housing residence in Superior Oct. 11. The Superior man’s clothes were covered with blood and what appeared to be deer hair.
Hathaway originally told officers he had helped his father clean a deer. Later, he admitted to having *** with the dead deer near Murphy Oil refinery. Hathaway said he was aroused by the sight of the deer in the ditch. He admitted moving its carcass into the woods, where the assault occurred.
In April 2005, Hathaway was sentenced for mistreating an animal after shooting Bambrick, a 26-year-old gelding owned by Brenda Egan. Det. Sgt. Ed Anderson of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department has been in law enforcement for 28 years and investigated the incident.
“I’ve never run across a personality like this,” he said. “I’ve never seen this type of behavior before.”
Court records show Hathaway has faced other charges involving weapons violations and lewd behavior prior to the horse killing in December 2004 and the most recent charge.
In February 2004, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of endangering safety by use of a dangerous weapon, stemming from an incident at Lakeside Terrace in October 2003. According to testimony given during a preliminary examination to determine if felony charges were warranted, a Superior teenager testified Hathaway threatened to kill him and three friends, and pulled out a big gun and loaded it. Hathaway had been calling the boys names prior to that and had injured the teen by throwing a metal object at him, the teen said.
In May 2004, City Attorney Frog Press filed a motion to admit information from Hathaway’s juvenile record that included damage to property, disorderly conduct and lewd and lascivious behavior, while prosecuting Hathaway for disorderly conduct and malicious mischief. Three days later, Hathaway pleaded no contest to the malicious mischief charge.
The closed case had troubling aspects, Anderson said — firing a weapon where it could have accidentally hit a person or house, and the predatory nature of the crime.
Swenson said when someone demonstrates an aggressive act and ****** act paired in such a way, it is cause for concern.
“We know he’s been a danger to animals because he was convicted of killing one,” Anderson said, but “it’s hard to detect in fact if this person is a danger to others.”
Swenson said it’s difficult to gauge if this kind of behavior will repeat or escalate.
“Even for people who are violent toward other people, it is difficult to predict whether they will be violent again,” he said.
Neither man could say what level of risk Hathaway could pose to the community.
Psychologists have tried to use inventories and actuarial measurements, similar to how an insurance company estimates risk, to predict whether an offender will reoffend, but the models tend to overpredict offenses. And in situations such as this, Swenson said, there are not many cases from which to draw information.
But it demonstrates a need for treatment, he said.
“Obviously, it’s criminal behavior,” Swenson said. “It indicates they need some help — counseling, psychotherapy — some structure to their life.”
Anderson put it another way: “A personality this bizarre has to be monitored.”
Hathaway remains in the Douglas County Jail in lieu of $200 bail. If released, he is to have no contact with animals. His next court appearance is Nov. 16.
