Virginia Senate passes bill to outlaw animal porn

The Virginia Senate voted unanimously this week to make the creation, distribution and possession of pornography involving animals illegal.

The legislation also tightens existing laws against having sex with animals, which had been covered under the state’s crimes against nature statute but which lawmakers said were vague and could be difficult to enforce.

“I can tell you this animal porn is out there and, under our current statute, there’s nothing wrong with that,” said Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, who sponsored the measure. “Someone who doesn’t do the touching, but makes their pet, their livestock, a part of this — they suffer zero consequence. It’s only someone who actually does the act.”

Surovell said he filed the legislation at the behest of the Humane Society of the United States, which testified in favor of the bill. Molly Armus, who directs the organization’s Virginia operations, said at least 13 states had adopted similar laws since 2017 and that similar legislation is currently pending in the District of Columbia.

It was also backed by detectives who investigate child pornography and abuse cases, who said they see frequent overlap between the two.

“When I became an investigator, one of the things I knew I was going to see was child pornography, but the amount of animal crimes and animal sex abuse pictures that I see is astronomical,” said Elizabeth Wright, a detective with the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Violations would be punishable as a class 6 felony. A conviction would not require someone to register as a sex offender, but the legislation would allow a judge to issue a lifetime ban on owning or keeping animals.

The legislation includes language specifying it does not apply to “accepted animal husbandry practice, including grooming, raising, breeding, or assisting with the birthing process of animals.”

The bill, which passed the Senate unanimously, now heads to the House of Delegates.