Miami, Florida – Prentiss K. Madden, a licensed veterinarian who recorded himself sexually abusing dogs, shared the bestiality videos on-line, and collected on-line child pornography, pled guilty today in Miami federal court.

During the hearing before U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez, Madden admitted that he repeatedly accessed a Dropbox account containing images of child pornography, received child pornography photographs and videos through social media chats, talked about child sexual abuse during chats, and stored thousands of child pornography images in his Dropbox account and cellular telephones.  Madden also admitted that he produced videos of himself engaged in sexual activity with dogs and shared them with others in chats.  Madden kept these bestiality videos, as well as chats about bestiality, in his cellular telephones.

Madden pleaded guilty to three counts of receipt of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(2); one count of possession of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(4)(B); and one count of creation of an animal crush video, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 48(a)(2)(B), a federal statute that punishes acts of animal torture, including bestiality.

Madden’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 8, 2021, at 11:30 a.m., before Judge Martinez.  Madden faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, and a maximum penalty of 87 years in prison.  A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Office; and Alfredo Ramirez, Director, Miami Dade Police Department, made the announcement.

HSI Miami and Miami Dade Police Department investigated the case, with assistance from Hialeah Police Department, U.S Customs and Border Protection, and Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Hudock is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

If you have information regarding this case, or you believe you or a family member may have been a victim, please contact the HSI tip line at 1-866-347-2423.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case no. 21-cr-20248.