A story in today's Sun Sentinel reveals that a Palm Beach County teenager accused of sexually assaulting the family's German shepherd also had child pornography videos on his computer, showing grown men performing sex acts with little girls, police said.

Surprise, surprise.

Research repeatedly has shown that people who sexually abuse animals often do the same to humans they also feel they can dominate -- just as people who physically abuse animals tend toward violent crimes. It's all well and good that county officials, who removed dogs and two cats from the family's home, have banned them from owning pets. But now is another good time to point out something that really will shock you, folks:

It's legal in our state to sexually assault animals.

Yep, we are one of 20 states where this is true. The reason is that when states struck down laws outlawing sodomy, the ones barring sex with animals went, too. This makes it hard for prosecutors and law enforcement to pursue these cases.

Sen. Nan Rich, a Democrat representing parts of Broward and Miami-Dade counties, introduced a bill last session (SB 0744) that would have fixed this, but admits it got started too late to get very far. She plans to try again. And she needs your support.

There are 215 days until the 2009 Florida legislative session begins. Tell your elected senators and representatives that you want them to support Rich's measure, which I hope will be introduced again this year. Stop legalized rape of our innocent animal companions and friends.

Click here to read my original post on this subject, with much more background and details on how to contact Sen. Rich.