A 40-year-old South Florida veterinarian has been arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a dog and possession of child pornography, authorities said. Prentiss Madden, who was the medical director of Caring Hands Animal Hospital, was arrested on Tuesday night after police carried out a search of his home in Aventura, Florida.
Madden is now being investigated by authorities for possessing over 1,000 files containing child porn after file-sharing web service DropBox got suspicious about him and notified authorities. He appeared in court where he was ordered on Wednesday to be held pending a bond hearing. The incident has left many including those who knew Madden shocked as they trusted him and never noticed any red flags.
Strange Mindset
Last month, file-sharing web service DropBox notified authorities after it saw one of the users with more than 1,600 files of suspected child porn. The files were traced to an IP address registered to Madden's home in Aventura, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday.
Following that, agents raided his home on February 24 and recovered files in which Madden discussed "the sexual abuse of animals and children" as well as multiple photos and videos depicting bestiality, the complaint said. They also came across a large number of videos of bestiality. One explicit video appeared to have been taken at Caring Hands Animal Hospital in Miami, where Madden worked as the medical director.
The geolocation information to one of the images depicting alleged bestiality links to the animal hospital where Madden worked, according to the complaint affidavit.
Dangerous and Shocking
Madden's has been fired from the hospital following the allegations and his profile has also been taken down, hospital authorities informed. The hospital said he was fired two weeks ago when they caught wind that he was under investigation for "heinous and unthinkable crimes" they said in a statement.
Almost everyone who knew Madden has been left shocked given that they always found him to be extremely caring toward animals. Caring Hands Animal Hospital said in a statement that they were "appalled by the nature of the charges" against the vet.
"Our legal team and every single member of the Caring Hands family will be doing everything in our power to aid law enforcement and facilitate their investigation and prosecution," they said in a statement provided to WTVJ.
"I'm still in a state of shock, disbelief, sadness. I truly cannot believe this," animal advocate Lindsey Donzanti told NBC Miami as she would bring her pets and those she rescued to Madden all the time. "I was probably one of Dr. Madden's first clients. I am a rescuer and I live in the area. I have promoted him countless times.
Meanwhile, police said that during the search at Madden's home, they discovered a cell phone alleged to belong to him, which contained several sexually explicit videos and images of minors. Also, the phone contained chats that discussed the sexual abuse of children and animals.
Madden has been charged under a federal law enacted in 2019 that outlaws the video production of animal abuse. If convicted, Madden could end up serving 37 years in jail.
