A couple who had sex with pet pug 'wallowed in a swamp of sexual depravity' in 'worst case' judge has ever seen
4 March 2025, 13:18
Couple who had sex with pet pug 'wallowed in a swamp of sexual depravity' in what a judge has described as the 'worst case' of animal cruelty he has ever seen.
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Graham Marshall, 39, "coerced" Paige Reaney, 33, into engaging in sexual acts with their pet pug - acts that caused the animal "pain and distress".
Appearing at Sheffield Crown Court, the judge accepted that there was a “level of coercion” involved in Reaney performing the depraved acts on the couple's pet dog.
Despite the coercion, the judge highlighted that Reaney had never turned down any of the requests where the animal abuse was concerned.
Reflecting on the incidents, His Honour Judge Jeremy Richardson KC said: "The circumstances of this case are extremely disturbing."
The court heard how the pair's offending first came to light in August 2021 after police seized devices from the couple’s home.
It followed reports of illegal images of children - which Marshall was found to have been in possession of, alongside admitting taking child abuse images.
The court heard how the abuse saw the dog ejaculate inside Reaney, who would often threaten it with violence.
The judge described how the pair shared images between themselves, first on TikTok and then carrying out acts in real life.
Marshall responded with messages including one which read: “so, so, f****** hot, it’s amazing”.
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Reaney had pleaded guilty to bestiality and animal cruelty at a previous hearing, with Marshall admitting identical charges - in addition to possessing child abuse images, possession of extreme pornography and voyeurism.
During sentencing in court on Monday, Reany was handed a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
Marshall was branded a dangerous offender, with the judge imposing an extended sentence of nine years and six months, with a four-year extended licence period upon his release.
He told him: “You have wallowed in the swamp of sexual depravity repeatedly, and over a long period.”
Judge Richardson said: “The dog has suffered due to the abuse of it by two human beings to a state of learned helplessness. It has thus suffered unnecessarily. Pain was also inflicted on the dog deliberately during these bestial acts."
The judged also referenced how Marshall was found to be in possession of abuse images featuring children as young as seven.
He also pleaded guilty to taking an indecent image of a child.
The judge accepted that he had “lost everything” and has been the “subject of vigilante abuse in social media”.
The judge said to him: “You cannot show your face anywhere and you have been living in a tent in the woods. You have been ostracised by your family.”
He said that a pre-sentence report “highlights your obsession with sexual fantasies”.Judge Richardson told Marshall: “You have indulged in a vast array of different acts of sexual deviancy of a very serious kind.”
He added: “You have deeply ingrained harmful sexual perversions within your character which embrace serious criminal conduct.
"I have every reason to believe there are acute risks of history repeating itself and you plunging yourself into the mire of criminal sexual depravity again.”
