We often follow academics in the criminal justice system, but few are likely to be as memorable as Penn State Professor Themis Matsoukas, 64. The Penn State chemical engineering professor was arrested in a parking lot near Rothrock State Forest for allegedly having sex with a collie. He later told police “I do it to blow off steam.” What is notable (beyond the obvious) is the overlap and lack of severity of the charges.
His arrest bizarrely occurs the same week as another man was arrested for attempting to have sex with a tree. However, Matsoukas harmed an animal but will likely not face significant jail time.
Matsoukas was reportedly caught on a trail camera in the parking lot in April and accused of indecent exposure, masturbation, and sexual contact with a dog. He was previously seen walking around the lot with no clothes from the waist down.
He was tracked down through his car and then matched to his DMV license photo. A search of his home uncovered items that could be seen in the video. Among the items seized were a jacket, a backpack, a ski mask, a large wristwatch, an electronic tablet, and photo documentation of the presence of a dog in the footage.
Police reported that Matsoukas told them during the search repeatedly “I’m done, I’m dead,” He then reportedly begged the authorities to shoot him, saying, “I need to die.”
Notably, it appears from the charging sheet that he is facing fairly redundant charges but they all appear misdemeanors or lesser offenses.
§ 5901 M3 Open Lewdness
§ 3127 §§ A M2 Indecent Exposure
§ 3129 M2 Sexual Intercourse With Animal
§ 5533 §§ A S Cruelty to Animals
§ 5503 §§ A4 S Disorderly Conduct Hazardous/Physi Off
That last charge is a disorderly conduct charge where the accused “creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition.” The term “physically offensive condition” is patently obvious in this case, but can be ambiguous and somewhat subjective on its scope.
It may come as a surprise to many that the first three charges (open lewdness, indecent exposure, and sexual intercourse with an animal) are misdemeanors and the last two (cruelty to animals and disorderly conduct) are summary charges. A summary charge is even lower than a misdemeanor and often involve non-traffic offenses.
Presumably, these offenses would run concurrently given the overlap. For a first offender, that could result in a relatively short jail term.
The expectation is that the university will fire him. He could challenge on the grounds that these are misdemeanors but the school can point to the depravity and dangerousness of the allegations. Of course, we have seen faculty who have physically assaulted students who were not fired.
Matsoukas’ academic work focused on chemical thermodynamics and he is the author of a recent undergraduate textbook on the Fundamentals of Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics. That book by Pearson Publishing has been out less than a year.
Matsoukas’ research centers on “nano colloidal systems and in the application of stochastic population balance models to particulate processes.”
Matsoukas has been given an array of teaching awards, including the George W. Atherton Award for excellence in Teaching, the Outstanding Teaching Award from the Penn State Engineering Society, and the Outstanding Professor of the Year Award from the student chapter of the AIChE. He earned his undergraduate degree at the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, and his PhD at the University of Michigan. Both degrees were in chemical engineering.
About 7 years ago we had an illegal alien on parole for a sex offense in Muskegon MI admit that he was copulating his pit bull. The dog was examined and destroyed. The wrong animal was exterminated. In the instant matter: this University Professor needs to be hounded out of society. Not only is no animal safe, no little kid or old lady is. I’ve spent 13.5 years in prison and in my opinion based on what I’ve heard and seen from sex offenders is: the only cure is death. If the Death Penalty is too harsh for Society then they need to be colonized and set apart from Godfearing people.
https://amzn.to/3I1xrvZ
The Fear Responses of a Union Ironworker
The article does not indicate a gender fir the canine. Was the collie in question self-identifying as a female but was actually a male?
Was the professor at issue self-identifying as a collie? Or perhaps a german shepherd?
Truly bizzare!
Why aren’t people like you in charge?
Please, tell us truthfully.
I know why, but Im not allowed to say it…
Maybe Johnathon Turley was just trying to get attention.
Why are we reading this?
Since when is journalism an excuse for plain voyeurism?
This is not news folks, in case you were of the mindset that someone calling himself a journalist is, especially without a proper editor.
This is pornography, rumor mongering, propoganda, and a personal attack.
How does this meet the needs of society to be informed? We are not affected by this. It is not going to affect anyone else’s life one way or another. The only thing this does is give attention to a hack posing as a journalist.
Tell them what questions we need to know are asked and answered here, if you even studied journalism that is…
A professor at a major university is arrested for bestiality, caught in the act at a public park, confessed to the humiliation, is promptly terminated, and you express the opinion this does not constitute news. We cannot possibly have a meaningful conversation when our respective sense of reality is so at odds.
It’s under BIZARRE so that’s what it is.
Lesson to be learned: If you must have sex with animals, do it in the privacy of your home. Public sex with anything or anyone is generally frowned upon. Get a room.
Why even bother commenting, as I just have.
Why is this worse than the sex acts performed by our Secretary of Transportation?
I thought Penn State was in favor of supporting those with ‘kinks’. This leaves me wondering what his pronouns are (woof)
What’s the penalty for having sex with Joy Behar?
Sex with Joey Behar har har har hardy har har
Wait, it’s not it’s own punishment?
The penalty would be having sex with Joy Behar.