A ‘gross’ couple had sex with their pet dog after becoming obsessed with bestiality, a court has heard.
Graham Marshall, 39, encouraged Paige Reaney, 33, into having intercourse with Charlie, their pet pug, as it was part of a ‘fantasy’ that he had after watching someone have sex with a dog when he was younger.
But Reaney also engaged in sexual activity with the dog while she was alone, under Marshall’s instruction, prosecutor Helen Chapman told Sheffield Crown Court today.
The couple’s offending was exposed after police raided their home after officers received information suggesting Marshall was in possession of child abuse images.
Electronic devices were seized from the couple, who have two children, and police analysis uncovered a number of additional sexual offences committed solely by Marshall.
This includes the creation of an indecent image involving a child and the possession of child abuse images of all categories.
Reaney, of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, previously pleaded guilty to having intercourse with a dog and to a second charge specifying four occasions of intercourse.
During today’s hearing, she admitted a further charge of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, in that she subjected him to ‘habitual sexual activity’.
Ms Chapman suggested it was noteworthy that Marshall used applications which ‘are designed to store images in a way that makes them more difficult to detect’.
He was also found to have committed voyeurism – which relates to a hidden camera in a bathroom that captured footage of two adult women – neither of whom were Reaney – using a toilet.
Ms Chapman said: ‘It is not clear where the toilet was where Graham Marshall chose to install a camera but it was not a public lavatory nor in some commercial premises.
‘It appears to be a residence though it is not thought to be his residence.’
She said the device also contained images of adult women, usually of their buttocks, in public places like gyms and shopping centres.
Ms Chapman said: ‘Whilst not separately charged, the Prosecution suggest that Marshall’s predilection for images of women taken in a clandestine fashion is relevant to the consideration of the voyeurism count.’
Amy Earnshaw, defending Reaney, said her client did not want to commit the offences and she was ‘forced, pressured and coerced’ into doing so by Marshall.
She said the couple have been in a relationship since Reaney was 17 and she only learned of the true extent of his sexual offending when he was arrested.
Ms Earnshaw said Reaney has learning difficulties and that Marshall had manipulated Reaney throughout their relationship, exerting control over Reaney and subjecting her to both verbal and physical abuse.
She suggested Marshall’s control and ill-treatment of Reaney, hampered her ’emotional development’.
Ms Earnshaw said: ‘When she was arrested in January 2023, that’s when her relationship ended, social services became involved, the children were taken from her, and her whole world came crashing down around her ears.’
Andrew Bailey, defending Marshall said he has lost his job as a driver, his home, relationship, and children
Mr Bailey also said that Marshall has been the subject of ‘vigilante attacks, social media abuse, shaming and humiliation’.
Mr Bailey said Marshall has also been ‘ostracised’ by almost all members of his family, and the predicament he finds himself in means he is now homeless and has taken to ‘living in a tent in the woods’.
Marshall, of no fixed abode, previously pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting a female person to have sexual intercourse with a dog.
He also admitted one count of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and another charge of failing to ensure the welfare of the dog.
Marshall also admitted one count of voyeurism and three counts of possessing extreme pornographic images relating to sexual acts involving a ‘dead/alive animal.
He also admitted seven counts of making indecent photographs/pseudo-photographs of children of Categories A, B and C and a further count of making indecent photographs of children of Category C.
The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, described the defendants’ crimes as ‘comprehensively gross’.
He said: ‘In a professional life in law covering now 45 years, in my case, I thought I had encountered most acts of depravity of one kind or another.
‘I freely confess: this case is perhaps the worst case of its kind I have ever encountered.’
‘It can only be described as grotesque sexual conduct.
‘Indeed, by use of the word grotesque, it almost camouflages the horror of the acts.’