A Sierra Vista man arrested last month in connection to multiple sexually explicit videos involving children that were shared via a Dropbox account has also been indicted on multiple charges of bestiality, including sexual intercourse with a dog.
Joshua Lee Rasmussen is slated to be arraigned Tuesday at the Cochise County Superior Court. He has remained in the county jail in lieu of $50,000 bail since being arrested at his home last month.
Rasmussen, 37, came under investigation after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a report in November 2020 from MediaLab/KiK, Dropbox’s parent company, about 15 videos which depict a variety of men and women engaged in the sexual exploitation of various children ranging from newborns to age 9.
NCMEC referred the matter to the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children task force, which reached out to the Sierra Vista Police Department on Dec. 18. Several search warrants were requested by SVPD Det. Thomas Ransford, who worked the case with special agents from Homeland Security Investigations.
Rasmussen was taken into custody Jan. 29 as part of a multi-personnel operation that included the Arizona Department of Child Safety. A specialized forensic interview will be conducted with a young girl who lived in Rasmussen’s home but Ransford’s report makes it clear there is no evidence nor any suggestion of inappropriate conduct involving the girl.
After Rasmussen’s arrest he consented to a post-Miranda interview during which Ransford asked about the videos reported by NCMEC.
“Rasmussen admitted he had a problem with pornography, stating his ex-wife had previously confronted him about it,” Ransford notes in his report. “He stated it started getting worse as it wasn’t enough and he started viewing the various fetishes.”
Ransford’s report notes Rasmussen also said during the interview that he would frequently delete images only to end up downloading new ones.
“When I asked him how many illicit child images I would find on his phone, he stated about 100,” the report notes.
Several videos found on Rasmussen’s cell phone appeared to be homemade adult pornography, but Ransford’s investigation revealed five videos which depict Rasmussen engaged in sexual intercourse and contact with his two Labrador dogs.
In addition to Rasmussen’s cell phone, investigators removed a laptop and other electronic equipment from the home. They also seized a safe which contained drugs, drug paraphernalia, and a large amount of cash which was suggestive of illegal drug sales.
Rasmussen will likely face additional criminal charges related to the drugs once crime lab test results are available, according to a report by SVPD Officer Greggory Blacklock.
After Rasmussen was interviewed he was medically cleared by Copper Queen Hospital and then booked into the Cochise County jail in Bisbee. He has been assigned a court appointed attorney and is set to be arraigned by Judge Timothy Dickerson on Feb. 16.