A Sierra Vista man accused of bestiality involving sexual intercourse with a dog and of sharing sexually explicit videos of children as young as infants via a Kik messaging app will be heading to prison for more than 12 years once he is sentenced, according to court documents.
Joshua Lee Rasmussen pleaded guilty earlier this month to two counts related to sexual exploitation of a minor under the age of 15. He is slated to be sentenced Wednesday to 12.5 years in prison per a plea deal which stipulates Rasmussen’s prison term is not eligible for early release.
Rasmussen, 37, will also be placed on lifetime probation after his prison release and must register as a sex offender.
In December, the Sierra Vista Police Department opened an investigation after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a report from Kik that someone used the social media app to share videos depicting adults engaged in sexual conduct with various children from infants to about age 9.
After his arrest, Rasmussen told a detective with the Sierra Vista Police Department there were likely more than 100 illicit images of children on his phone. The children were unknown to Rasmussen, according to court records.
The detective also discovered a number of videos which depicted Rasmussen engaged in sexual contact with dogs. However, a provision of the two-count plea deal accepted by Judge Timothy Dickerson in early June calls for the bestiality charges to be dismissed.
Formal sentencing will be conducted by Dickerson on June 30 at the Cochise County Superior Court in Bisbee.