A 19-year-old Afghan migrant has been arrested in France over a series of brutal sexual assaults on animals, including sheep and goats, near Marseille. According to media reports, the animals were found tied up, injured, and in distress.
The incidents were first discovered by the owners of an educational farm, Le Refuge d’un Moment, in Les Pennes-Mirabeau, near Marseille in southern France. They began finding their animals in distress and showing signs of sexual abuse in February and again in March.
According to The Noticer, some of the animals were found with their legs bound and with genital injuries. A five-month-old lamb was reportedly abused so severely on 31 March that it nearly died.
‘A five-month-old lamb was reportedly abused so severely on 31 March that it nearly died’
The owners installed cameras, which reportedly captured a man carrying out violent sexual acts with some of the animals. Authorities later caught the suspect in the act on 10 April, arrested him, and charged him with animal cruelty.
The 19-year-old suspect, who entered France in November 2025 from Afghanistan, denied the accusations, despite prosecutors stating that his DNA matched semen samples found on six of the animals. Prosecutors requested that he be kept in custody.
He will remain in pre-trial detention until 22 June, when his trial is scheduled to take place.
The owners of the non-profit educational farm—which houses around 250 abandoned or mistreated animals, including horses, cows, llamas, sheep, goats, and chickens for children to visit—have launched an online fundraiser to cover veterinary and legal expenses.
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