During his first day in court, an Evanston man caught sexually attacking a horse agreed to the maximum penalty, one year in jail.
James Botkin, who turns 38 this year, was charged Monday with one count of bestiality, after a Texas couple passing through Evanston early Sunday caught him with his arm inside their mare at the Evanston rodeo grounds, court documents say.
He immediately pleaded “no contest” Monday under a plea agreement he had accepted from Uinta County Deputy Attorney Michael Greenwood: Spend one year in jail and pay restitution. The jail term is the maximum allowed under Wyoming’s bestiality statute.
Botkin was sentenced to the year in jail Monday with his restitution payment to be determined after additional deliberations.
For a defendant to settle immediately and accept the maximum sentence in a high misdemeanor is a little unusual, Uinta County Attorney Loretta Howieson Kallas told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday.
“I would say it’s somewhat unusual for a person to agree to a maximum sentence in relation to a matter,” she said. “However this is an unusual circumstance.”
Howieson Kallas said she does not necessarily agree with the Legislature categorizing bestiality as a misdemeanor. But offering misdemeanor defendants like Botkin a plea agreement has been standard practice for as long as she can remember. She has worked in the county office for nearly 20 years.
“Certainly I have a great deal of compassion for the victims of this case. It’s unfortunate (the crime) occurred and it’s unfortunate that the actions of one person could mar the overall impression of a public facility.”
Howieson Kallas was referring to the Evanston rodeo grounds, where the crime happened.
One of the horse’s owners, Carly Rudd, had posted a public warning on Facebook Sunday to other rodeo enthusiasts, advising them to skip Evanston during their travels.
Howieson Kallas indicated the act isn’t the fault of those who run the grounds.
“There’s no person that can control the individual acts of criminal conduct – other than the criminal himself,” she said.
Court documents show Botkin’s Wyoming criminal history in Evanston dates back to 2011 and consists only of traffic citations and one charge of failing to appear in court.
Getting Tackled
According to court documents and statements Carly Rudd posted on social media, sheand her husband Levi Rudd arrived in Evanston from Casper at about 3 a.m. Sunday for a quick rest during their travels.
They parked their horses at the Evanston rodeo grounds and tried to get some sleep. At about 4 a.m.
Levi realized he’d left on a light near the horses. When he walked back to shut it off, he heard a commotion, according to Carly’s post.
Levi encountered a man in the stall with one of their mares, “with his arm inserted inside her essentially raping her,” wrote Carly.
The Rudds gave the same statement to Evanston law enforcement, the case affidavit says.
“What the f— are you doing?” yelled Levi, the affidavit says.
The man, later identified as Botkin, reportedly squared up as if to fight Levi – and Levi tackled him and subdued him while Carly called the Uinta County Sheriff’s Office.
A Uinta County Detention Center booking photo of Botkin shows him with a bruise on his right eye and a scrape on his forehead.
The Rudds could not be reached Tuesday for an update on the mare’s condition.
They took her to a veterinarian Sunday and discovered she had hives – reportedly from stress – and some vaginal trauma and bleeding, says the affidavit.
Botkin, meanwhile, refused to speak to Uinta County Sheriff’s Deputy Jarrod Asay during a Sunday interview after his arrest.
He reeked of horse manure and bodily fluid when arrested, the affidavit says.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
