CENTENNIAL | An Aurora man charged with animal cruelty for coordinating sex acts between himself, his ex-girlfriend and a dog slated for immediate destruction was sentenced Tuesday by an Arapahoe County court to six months in county jail and two years of supervised probation.
Frederick Manzanares, 51, entered a plea agreement last month in which he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty. A judge handed Janette Solano, Manzanares’ ex-girlfriend, a 24-month deferred sentence in September for her role in the crimes. Solano, 49, admitted to having sex with their dog, a male akita-husky mix then-named Bubba, 15 to 20 times in their south Aurora motorhome throughout much of 2016 and early 2017.
Animal control officials said the dog appears to act aggressively and prosecutors suggested it will likely be euthanized. Michael Bryant, a spokesman for the city, said the dog was scheduled to be destroyed this afternoon.
Arapahoe County Judge Cheryl Rowles-Stokes also ordered Manzanares, who said he served in the U.S. Air Force for nearly 30 years, to undergo an animal cruelty evaluation with a counselor specializing in mental health and sexual deviancy as part of his probation. The judge also barred Manzanares from owning or caring for any animals while on probation, and stipulated that court officials could make unannounced visits to his home to make sure he is complying with that requirement.
In a 16-page arrest affidavit filed last December, investigators detailed a litany of sexual acts between Manzanares, Solano and the dog, which has since been renamed Biscuit. The majority of the acts took place in a motorhome parked outside the couple’s home at 4557 S. Fairplay Court. Solano told police — who investigated the crimes for several months before issuing a warrant for Manzanares’ arrest — Manzanares introduced her to the concept of bestiality over the course of about six months after Solano found a video on the couple’s shared laptop of women having sex with dogs and horses.
Solano also provided investigators with a tablet the couple shared containing “numerous videos of women engaged in sexual activity with dogs,” according to the affidavit. The videos were saved in a folder entitled, ‘Beast.’
Solano said Manzanares built a bench with cushions to facilitate having sex with the dog, although the couple, who dated for a total of about four years, seldom used it. She added that Manzanares would arouse the dog by spraying hormones into the motorhome, and “buy kid’s squeezable foods in different flavors, and put it on her and himself for Bubba to lick off,” according to the affidavit.
Solano told investigators that the couple got the dog from a woman in Brighton who knew Manzanares was going to use the animal for sex, according to the affidavit.
At the hearing Tuesday, Senior Deputy District Attorney Amy Ferrin asked the court to sentence Manzanares to 18 months in jail, five years of probation and 50 hours of community service.
Ferrin went on to distinguish Solano from Manzanares and lauded the former’s transparency with police.
“These two offenders are not similarly situated in any sense,” she said. “… But for Miss Solano coming forward … I’m not sure that any of us standing here today would have known this crime occurred.”
Denver-based Criminal Defense Attorney Christopher Decker, who represented Manzanares, acknowledged the couple’s actions were perverted, but accused the court of gender bias regarding Manzanares’ proposed sentence and Solano’s plea agreement, which netted a deferred sentence.
“This is a profoundly biased, gender-biased case,” Decker said. “… The district attorney is saving all of their vitriol for one of the two defendants.”
While addressing the court, Manzanares apologized for his actions and asked for mercy.
“I accept full responsibility for my actions in this case,” he said. “… It was never my desire to make … Biscuit suffer. I do care for him.”
Manzanares began to choke up while summarizing his lengthy military career and asking the court to allow him to help the Aurora Animal Shelter find a new home for the dog — a request the judge later denied.
“(These behaviors) will never manifest themselves again,” he said. “I just ask for mercy from this court.”
Ferrin, too, said the most likely fate for the dog is death, and that the animal has exhibited aggressive behavior since being transferred to a local pound. Biscuit is currently in the custody of Aurora Animal Care.
At the hearing Tuesday, Rowles-Stokes said this is the first case of cruelty she’s seen in which the animal will likely die.
“This dog cannot recover,” Rowles-Stokes said before handing down her sentence. “The most likely outcome for the victim is going to be death, and the court cannot ignore that.”
Although the judge suspended $1,000 in fines for the crimes, Manzanares will have to pay about $1,600 in court fees. Rowles-Stokes said she specifically did not sentence Manzanares to community service, as the prosecuting attorney had originally requested, in an effort to keep him away from “the most vulnerable members of the community.”
Manzanares is scheduled to report to Arapahoe County jail on Oct. 29.