Wausau man charged with having sexual contact with dog pleads to reduced charges
WAUSAU − A 20-year-old Wausau man charged with having sexual contact with a dog pleaded guilty Wednesday to amended charges.
John L. Schultz of Wausau pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor mistreatment of an animal. As part of a plea agreement, the charges were reduced from felony charges of bestiality and photographing bestiality.
Schultz also pleaded guilty to unrelated charges of misdemeanor theft and felony bail jumping. The theft charge was reduced from a charge of felony theft. Two additional counts of felony bail jumping were dismissed but read into the record.
Marathon County Circuit Judge Scott Corbett placed Schultz on three years of probation and ordered him to undergo any counseling deemed appropriate. Corbett ordered Schultz to maintain full-time employment or school. If not working or going to school, Schultz must do nine hours of community service a week. Corbett also ordered Schultz to not own, live with or work with or have access to any animals.
According to the criminal complaint, in November 2020, a deputy was investigating a theft when he seized Schultz's phone. When officers checked the phone, they found photos and videos of someone performing sexual acts with a German shepherd, according to the complaint.
The photos and videos showed Schultz having the dog lick his genital area while Schultz was on a bed, according to the complaint.
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When deputies arrested Schultz at his mother's Wausau home, they saw a black German shepherd that matched the dog seen in the videos. Schultz's bedroom also was the same color and had the same lamp as seen in the pictures and video, according to the complaint.
Schultz told officers he had searched for the word "bestiality" online when deputies asked him about searches found on his phone, according to the complaint. When deputies asked him about his dog, Schultz asked for an attorney.
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Contact Karen Madden at (715) 345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33
This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: Wausau man charged with bestiality with dog pleads to reduced charges
