31°46′40.7″N 35°14′07.7″E
Top Stories
The Wire
← The Wire
The Nation · Dispatch · SocietyDeveloping

French court sentences Afghan asylum seeker to 30 months for animal rape

The Zioneer Intelligence DeskUpdated 17:20

Primary source Internal intake · 1 reviewed intake signal · Desk window 17:06–17:20

TL;DR

A 19-year-old Afghan asylum seeker in France was sentenced to 30 months in prison for raping five goats and a lamb at an animal sanctuary. The lamb died from the assault. The man told a court-appointed psychologist he acted to prevent rape of a woman, saying 'a goat cannot identify him afterward.'

01 · THE DISPATCH

A French court in Aix-en-Provence sentenced a 19-year-old Afghan asylum seeker, identified only as Massoud S., to 30 months in prison for raping five goats and a six-month-old lamb at the 'Le Refuge d'un Moment' animal sanctuary and educational farm in Le Pen-Mirabeau, near Marseille. The lamb died as a result of the assault.

The case began in February when the farm owner, Cassandra Sortino, noticed signs of restraint on some animals' legs. A veterinarian found genital injuries and blood traces. After installing a security camera, Sortino recorded a person entering the farm and assaulting animals. Police arrested the suspect in April, reportedly catching him in the act, wearing latex gloves with his trousers down.

At his trial on June 22, the man denied all charges, despite being caught on camera. He told a court-appointed psychologist he raped the animals to prevent rape of a woman, arguing 'a goat cannot identify him afterward.' In court, he said: 'It's being made into a big deal, but they are just animals.' He was also banned from French territory following his sentence.

No prior reporting on this incident by The Zioneer.

Related dispatches
03 · Source and signal

Source and signal

A single-sourced dispatch is never rated Confirmed or Strong. Its Signal strengthens only when a second, independent source corroborates it.

  • Internal intake
Desk accountability

This dispatch is published under The Zioneer Intelligence Desk. Raw intake channels remain internal provenance; an external outlet or channel is named only when it materially helps readers evaluate a specific claim.