Sex With Dead Could Cost You Five Years

COLUMBUS, OHIO – As a Hamilton County morgue worker, Kenneth Douglas had sex with a nearly decapitated murder victim in August 1982.

His sentence was almost as shocking: 18 months in prison.

Last year, through a fluke of legal developments and DNA testing, prosecutors discovered Douglas’ necrophilia. In September, Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge William Mallory Jr. sentenced Douglas, 55, to the maximum penalty allowed under the 1982 version of Ohio’s abuse of a corpse law.

The maximum penalty has since gotten even more lenient: 12 months in prison. That’s the same penalty for shoplifting items worth more than $500.

State Rep. Dale Mallory, D-Cincinnati, the judge’s brother, introduced House Bill 29 to increase the penalty for necrophilia to up to five years in prison.

The bill is getting support from prosecutors, including Dennis Watkins of Trumbull County.

“Most people I know would tell you that you don’t have sex with dead people. That’s worse than shoplifting,” Watkins said.

“I very much support Dale’s bill,” said Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters. “This is off the charts shocking, these types of offenses.”

Deters declined to discuss reports by the Cincinnati Enquirer that his office is bringing more charges against Douglas for having sex with other corpses.

Courtesy Dayton Daily News