Plea deal reached in animal cruelty case
A former KU international student pleaded guilty to two cases of animal cruelty in what human society officials describe as disturbing crimes. Enlarge video
Cem Basoflas, a KU student from Turkey, was in court on Monday as evidence was presented in a animal cruelty case against him. Basoflas entered a plea agreement with the court.
A former Kansas University international student is in jail and faces deportation after pleading guilty Monday to two counts of animal cruelty.
Cem Basoflas, 21, from Istanbul, Turkey, struck a plea agreement with prosecutors during an appearance in Douglas County District Court.
Basoflas pleaded guilty to the two felony counts of animal cruelty, for severely injuring a cat in August 2008 and for torturing and killing a dog in February.
Lawrence police in February arrested Basoflas, who was a KU sophomore at the time, after finding a large amount of blood inside his residence at the Peppertree Apartments in the 2100 block of Heatherwood Drive.
Lawrence Humane Society executive director Midge Grinstead has said the cases are among the worst instances of animal cruelty her staff has seen.
In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors won’t file any additional charges.
As part of the plea agreement, Basoflas, who had been out of jail on bond, was taken into custody to serve 30 days in jail until his sentencing date May 8.
The minimum sentence is 30 days in jail on each count, but the judge could run the sentences concurrently, which is what both sides will recommend.
The maximum sentence is a year in jail on each count, and Grinstead said she’d like to see Basoflas sentenced to the two years in jail instead.
“I want him to be in jail for a while,” Grinstead said after the hearing. “I want him to be deported, too, but I think he needs to serve the time. He committed the crimes and they were vicious and they were brutal.”
Basoflas’ attorney, Sarah Swain, told the judge that at the conclusion of his sentence the defense will recommend he be turned over to immigration officials to be deported to Turkey.
The plea agreement also recommends Basoflas undergo psychological counseling while in custody at the Douglas County Jail, pay a $500 fine in each case and pay the Humane Society $1,000 to help cover the expenses of the investigation.
Comments
Raider 9 years ago
Now if they will just go after the dog killer on Miller Dr! This guy (on Miller) killed another dog on Saturday. He got a ticket.
Bossa_Nova 9 years ago
i usually dont hate anybody, but my exception is for those who get their kicks from torture. what a sick perverted pathetic waste of a human being. i say throw the book at this pervert and all the sickos who are just like him. i hope this freak gets expelled from ku and is ruined. these are the kinds of perverts who turn into serial murderers if given the chance. this guy shouldnt be let back into the gene pool..
WHY 9 years ago
Bossa I hope you are a vegetarian.
kmat 9 years ago
lawrenceguy - you have no idea of the horrific acts this guy did. You can't compare this case to what happens in a slaughterhouse. I unfortunately do know the details and this guy deserves to sit in jail for a long, long time. I would just prefer it to be a Turkish jail.
Also, that's not how they do it at a meat processing plant.
Was this just a hearing on the first case? There are two cases against this sicko who'd better be getting deported.
tonymontana 9 years ago
Wah wah wah, people and their pets. This is more laughable than anything.
Michael Capra 9 years ago
back to turkey he gos
Deb Stavin 9 years ago
tonymontana:
Often a person who starts out abusing animals eventually moves on to abusing humans. It's a public safety issue.
IMHO, the public reaction to this case is not whining. Many folks who don't pamper their pets are as repulsed by animal torture as those who do.
KansasVoter 9 years ago
Why are the police withholding the details in this case? They usually do that to protect the victim, but it sounds like the victim in this case is a dead cat or dog.
Bossa_Nova 9 years ago
tonymontana must be another pervert who gets his kicks from torturing animals. he probably also wouldnt mind having a crack at a human too.
WHY and lawrenceguy40: no i'm not vegetarian. i eat meat as long as it was a swift painless kill (eg. instant shot to the head, instant severing of the neck arteries, anything where there is no suffering, etc.). there's a big difference between that and what happens in slaughterhouses where an animal can die a slow painful death. i also buy cageless eggs. i detest torture and suffering. what's the hypocrisy in that?
gr 9 years ago
Raider, do you understand the difference between killing an animal and torturing an animal?
Rick Aldrich 9 years ago
yeah! but your eudorians get the crappy water. :)
Charlie Sabotage 9 years ago
i don't think many people would be sad if he got sent back to Turkey. It would not bother me in the least. This man has many problems that are not going to end with this instance alone. Where ever his mental problem lead him I hope they are places in Turkey
Steve Jacob 9 years ago
This does imply if your an American, you go to jail, if your from anywhere else, you go home.
middlemgmt 9 years ago
Accident? I don't think so. I think he is mental and needs help. Our tax dollars should not be spent on him. I'm all for sending him back to Turkey.
Scott Kaiser 9 years ago
Put him on a plane today and get this piece of s%$t out of my country. Make him pay his fines AND the plane fare for deporting him.
Tom McCune 9 years ago
A guy from Turkey is an animal abuser? That would be kind of funny if it wasn't so sick...
Tom McCune 9 years ago
If we can so easily deport a legal resident who abuses animals, why can't we deport the drug dealers, identity thieves, smugglers, vehicular "homiciders", and general scum who are illegal aliens?
Bossa_Nova 9 years ago
commentator on the axe,
a swift slice to the main arteries that carry blood to the brain is basically an instant death. the animal blacks out almost immediately and feels very little. that's why i am ok with it. if i didnt believe that, i would not buy that meat. i know it sounds gruesome to you, but it's actually very humane.
compmd 9 years ago
I wonder how many of the people screaming for Basoflas' deportation and that he should be Turkey's problem also scream about how pissed off they are at other cities that send their homeless to Lawrence.
HermioneElliott 9 years ago
2fat4u are you proposing to marry this guy? All he needs is a hug? My sympathies go to Kmat and to the others who know the details of this case and will never be able to forget them. We should thank these people for being willing to do what they do. Just today President Obama said that rules are made to be obeyed and punishment should be meted out to those who break them. Deport him.
Tom McCune 9 years ago
lawrenceguy40:
We should report and deport all >ILLEGAL aliens. Legal emigration has been immensely beneficial to this country. It is the illegals that are the problem.
Chris Ogle 9 years ago
How do the Turks say "GO HOME"
OldEnuf2BYurDad 9 years ago
2fat4u: Read the stories associated with this case, and the posts from people who had additional info. If it was a mistake, it was a mistake that happened multiple times with more than one animal. Sex and mutilation with a dog is hard to call an "accident", even if it happened only once.
"Many folks who don't pamper their pets are as repulsed by animal torture as those who do."
A guy like this might eventually grow tired of the cries of animals; requiring him to move up to the cries of people to get the same thrill. My guess is someone raped him as a child, repeatedly.
kittycatty26 9 years ago
I hope this sick freak gets done to him in jail what he did to those poor, defenseless animals.
Jonathan Becker 9 years ago
If he is deported, there will be no way to enforce him paying his fines. We can kiss that money good-bye. Seems we can't have it all here.
Still, deportation makes this problem not ours.
bearded_gnome 9 years ago
I am troubled that the DA did another plea bargain, and this cruel @$$ho|e only does 30-days!
I agree with Midge Grinstead, he should be doing at least a couple years behind bars, then deported. would send a better message to freaky-deakies who are internationals.
I think we should call the DA to protest this plea bargain.
and Kmat, I'm sorry you've been exposed to more than the public details of this. what is public is bad enough.
and though he may have been raped repeatedly before, I guarantee you he knew what he was doing was wrong.
hermione/cleo claims to be a good practicing Catholic...not much if she supports Obama.
pool_playa 9 years ago
The accused must have a right to defense and get a fair trial. If found guilty by a court of law, he must be sentenced according to the law of the land, where the purported crime was committed. The ambiguity lies in the procedure. Once pronounced guilty of a felony, the federal officials have the authority to deport any alien to his native country. On the other hand, the courts have the authority to go ahead with the sentencing and send him to prison. Such blatant generalized comments like, "deport all immigrants" and comparisons between slaughterhouse killing and animal cruelty are immaterial. That being said, vegetarianism definitely is a less cruel way of life than meat eating.
danemary 9 years ago
don't deport him until he spends a year in jail with Michael Vick as his cell mate
middlemgmt 9 years ago
2fat4u - I'm guessing you would be one of those women who stands by her man even when he rapes your child. That makes me ill.
littlegrace 9 years ago
"Raider (Anonymous) says…
Now if they will just go after the dog killer on Miller Dr! This guy (on Miller) killed another dog on Saturday. He got a ticket."
What would be the point? If each charge only carries a 30 day sentence then justice will never be served.
meggers 9 years ago
30 days for FELONY animal cruelty? I'm sooooo glad the legislature passed the law to make animal cruelty a felony, only to have it treated like a petty shoplifting offense. Possessing an ounce of pot for one's own personal use probably would have delivered a heavier sentence. Our legal system has it's priorities completely out of order.
Bossa_Nova 9 years ago
deport him back to turkey on the condition that he spend his jail sentence in a turkish jail. what a perverted little coward. i hope his cellmate is a guy named bubba who hasnt seen a woman in 10 years.
woodenfleaeater 9 years ago
Timmy.......Have you ever been to a Turkish prison???
Sorry, couldn't help it.
Jersey_Girl 9 years ago
I hope he does get deported after serving his time. He's a serial killer in the making. I can't find the article now, but a while back, a man got 5 years (I think) for animal cruelty after stopping his girlfriend's son's goldfish to death.
lucyinthesky 9 years ago
2fat4u-
"I'm just saying that there is a big morality difference between the torturing and harming of a child and the having of sex with animals. One physically and mentally harms another human being, and the other probably does no psychological damage whatsoever to the animal. I'm not saying it's normal or anything but at least it's not hurting anyone."
i just needed to see it again to make sure that's what you really said. i almost believe that you must be joking, i mean, you would HAVE to be joking in order to really believe that...
this guy deserves no defense.
somedude20 9 years ago
I remember porting in Turkey while I was in the military and having my liberty partner (not a slang term for a patriotic homosexual) wanting to go to this place called the compound to “hook up”. The compound is were wives go to “work off” their husband’s debt. This place was a few blocks of old run down apartment buildings surrounded by walls that were fifteen feet high with barbed wire on top. Wonder how they treat their dogs over there?
To finish the story; my “partner” made nice with three ladies there and then spent the rest of the night asking me if I thought that he would get aids as he decided to omit his jimmy hat.
notajayhawk 9 years ago
OldEnuf2BYurDad (Anonymous) says…
"Sex and mutilation with a dog is hard to call an “accident”, even if it happened only once."
What was that line from the movie 'The Last Boy Scout?' To paraphrase, something like "So, what, you slipped and fell and your __ landed in my dog?"
Jennifer Forth 9 years ago
2fat and others I know this clown and no one wants to give him a hug. It's all in the eyes and he is one creepy dude! The details not mentioned are pretty horrifying and it is easy to be glib when you don't know the full story.
That said, I am glad that counseling will be part of the sentencing agreement.
kmat 9 years ago
2fat4u is one sick mofo. You need to get a life.
middlemgmt 9 years ago
2fat4u (Anonymous) says…
Hey middlemgmt, don't you think there's a difference between raping a child and having sex with a dog? If the dog is not harmed?
2fat4u - I think this is the same type of person who would rape a child. BTW the dog was harmed and did suffer. It's never okay to rape a child and it's never okay to rape a dog. Sounds like your friends are freaks too!
kmat 9 years ago
2fat4u - please go back to TX and hang out with the animal rapists there. We may be a little backwards in KS, but we don't take well to people that think it's harmless to rape animals.
And the raping that this guy did is only a small part of what he did to these animals. The fact you are getting off joking about this is just plain wrong and shows that you have some issues.
I stand by my earlier post - you are one sick mofo.
loloen 9 years ago
Surely. Morals that say it's ok to have sex with an animal as long as the animal "enjoys" it. Animals cannot speak. They cannot consent. And anyway, it's freaking disgusting. I'm convinced you're a troll. No one can be this offensive except for the guy in the article.
middlemgmt 9 years ago
I agree with loloen. Has to be a troll. We have given her too much attention as it is. I'm done.
loloen 9 years ago
You're trolling for attention. Well done.
Kyle Reed 9 years ago
2fat4u says: "Hey, is this a hole I'm standing in? Maybe if I just keep digging..."
justthefacts 9 years ago
Almost EVERY serial killer that ever lived tortured animals before they got to humans. Get him gone, and real gone, ASAP.
loloen 9 years ago
I'll bite. I guess I'm one of those people with my nose too high up in the air to think that sex with animals is permissible as long as "the animal enjoys it". Wow! It feels great having my nose this high up in the air! Because it's really about snobbery and not disgusting bestiality and mutilation!
Ok. I really am done on this one too.
HermioneElliott 9 years ago
Okay, I re-read what I wrote and though it was clear to me, I can understand how it could be interpreted. Though I think most people understand that I meant, deport Cem Basofla. I still adore President Obama.
bowwow 9 years ago
This story has been disturbing me for awhile. I work at a local pet store where I have seen him purchase animals. I really can't believe that I have talked to this guy several times and even asked him about his pets!!
gr 9 years ago
"Almost EVERY serial killer that ever lived tortured animals before they got to humans."
Sounds like a homosexual slippery slope argument.
Speaking of: "Because it's really about snobbery and not disgusting bestiality and mutilation!"
Regarding what 2fat4u was speaking of and not this specific case, how does what a man and a dog do in the privacy of their home affect you?
terrapin2 9 years ago
This man is a serial killer in the making. I met him and cared for one of his abused animals. He looks scared and sad because he is sick and doesn't understand what he did wrong. He thought the animals were his "friends" and his family is in complete denial. The details are very gruesome and frightening, to the point of employees being offered counseling. There is no place here to joke. He also may turn out to be the cat mutilator, but that evidence isn't back yet. It is extremely sad to me that he is only getting 30 days. He gets a psych evaluation, but there is no mention of actual counseling, or what will be done with the results of that evaluation. I do think he needs to be out of the country, but after a much harsher penalty, and the people in Turkey need to be warned that he is escalating his behavior. Those of us that are close to the case will do what we can to warn the citizens of Istanbul that this man is coming home. 2fat4u-There is nothing normal about animal curiosity, farm or no farm you sick @#$%. How exactly do you know when an animal "enjoys" it? Seriously? There are plenty of sick religious and non-religious people. What does that have to do with any of this? You ever see the Friend's episode where Joey gets his inseam measured by a man who takes advantage of him and Chandler says "That's not how they do pants!!" You need help understanding what is normal and what is not. Wow.
mt_bass 8 years, 8 months ago
we went to the same high school and i know him. he had some strange behaviors, but everyone was talking to him. i mean he wasn't a very lonely person like in horror movies. anyway, i don't want him to come back to turkey, because we don't have good laws for torturing animals. i wish he can't get out from jail, unless he would do the same thing again.
Commenting has been disabled for this item.