A British man was sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of having sex with a horse near his home.
A Leeds Crown Court judge labeled 54-year-old Julian Mark Ridgeway a “dangerous” man who should use his time in prison to confront his “deviant sexual history.” The jury convicted Ridgeway of intercourse with an animal, and trespassing with intent to commit a sexual offense.
Witnesses in the case testified to seeing Ridgeway leading a mare named “Honey” from her stable in May 2016. The mare’s owners challenged Ridgeway, who lived down the road, but he ran off. A subsequent DNA test revealed that Ridgeway had previously had sex with Honey.
It was not the first time Ridgeway had been found engaged in deviant behavior with a horse. He was convicted of attempted murder in 1991 after he choked a 16-year-old girl who discovered him washing a pony’s backside with his pants down.
Ridgeway denied having sex with Honey and reportedly said, “I have never had sex with a horse,” as he was being led out of court.
The judge wasn’t buying it, telling Ridgeway: “I am quite satisfied that you have a deep seated sexual interest in horses and ponies that you struggle to control…There is a very high risk you will seek to have sex with a horse or pony in the future.”
TAKE THE POLL
