CLEARFIELD – Three Munson men accused of repeatedly having sex with various animals were given long prison sentences during a special sentencing court session Monday.
In August Terry James Wallace, 41, Matthew Joseph Brubaker, 33, and Marc Thomas Measnikoff, 35, were arrested and charged with over 1,400 each of misdemeanor counts of sexual intercourse with an animal and summary counts of cruelty to animals as well as misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child and corruption of minors.
Each man was given a total of 20 to 41 years in state prison by Judge Paul E. Cherry, who described the case as “one of the most disgusting, despicable courses of conduct I’ve ever seen.”
District Attorney William A. Shaw Jr. commented that the videos the men made of their illegal acts had “burned my corneas and will live with me the rest of my life.”
The trio was charged with committing regular sex acts with horses, dogs, a cow and a goat over several years at a farm they owned in Munson.
During part of that time, a juvenile boy was staying with them and there was reportedly no running water or electricity at the site.
They pleaded guilty to misdemeanor corruption of minors, 730 misdemeanor counts of sex with animals, and 730 summary counts of cruelty to animals. All three said they were sorry and Cherry called each of them “sick” for their actions.
Wallace was represented by Chris Pentz, who along with the other attorneys, argued that the sentence was excessive for someone who had no prior criminal record.
“There is no question this case has an ‘ewww’ factor,” Pentz told Cherry, pointing out that sentencing Wallace in the aggregated range and for over 700 counts was “double aggregated.”
Bestiality is not a crime in seven other states, Pentz noted. He then stated that if they killed 730 cows it would not be a crime.
Shaw countered this by saying it is a crime now to kill that many cows. He stated that they were being sentenced for each act as someone who sexually abused a child would be sentenced.
Cherry agreed that if they killed that many animals it would be a crime unless they had a slaughterhouse. He added that they could have received additional time, as they were given consecutive sentences on only the first 78 counts of sexual intercourse with animals. (They received two years concurrent probation on the additional counts.)
Measnikoff‘s attorney, Joe Ryan referred to the recommended sentence as “absurd” but agreed what they had done was “disgusting.” Measnikoff was not hurting people, Ryan said, and suggested that his client had already served sufficient time on this case. Measnikoff and the others have been incarcerated since they were first arrested.
Brubaker’s attorney, Ryan Sayers, noted Brubaker cooperated with the investigation and this was not a crime against a human or a violent crime. He stated that someone charged with third-degree murder would get a sentence of this length.
Cherry told Sayers not to compare this with other crimes for which there was only one count where here there were 730 counts and they had been punished for even more.
Sayers pointed out that Brubaker’s crimes did not involve the teen and the child did not hold the video camera.
This led to Cherry questioning why they would even videotape these acts, and wondering if they were planning to sell the footage.
After each sentencing, Cherry defended his decision stating for the record that the periods of incarceration were in the aggregated range due to the nature of the offenses and the number of counts.
