The French Justice sentenced a 19-year-old Afghan asylum seeker, identified as Massoud S, to 30 months of firm imprisonment for sexual abuse and acts of cruelty against animals on an educational farm located in Les Pennes-Mirabeau, near Marseille.
The case involves five goats and a six-month-old lamb. One of the goats died days later due to the severity of the injuries inflicted by the Muslim immigrant, as presented before the French correctional court of Aix-en-Provence.
The statements of the convicted person further amplified the controversy
The attacks occurred between February and April at “La Ferme d’un Moment,” a space dedicated to the care of abandoned or mistreated animals. The person in charge, Cassandra Sortino, began to notice severe wounds, signs of binding, bloodstains, and injuries consistent with sexual assaults.
In light of the repeated incidents, the owner installed surveillance cameras. The footage revealed the presence of a man lurking around the pens at night. Finally, on April 9, the police caught him in the act: he was behind a goat, with his pants down and wearing latex gloves.
During the investigation, the Justice gathered material evidence against the accused. DNA compatible with Massoud S. was found on items used to tie the animals, and data from his cell phone placed him near the farm on several occasions during the period of the abuses.
The young man, born in Afghanistan and residing in an asylum seeker center in Marseille, denied the allegations during the trial. He claimed that on the night of his arrest, he had missed the train and had no other place to spend the night but next to the goats.
The case involves five goats and a six-month-old lamb
However, a psychiatric evaluation conducted during pre-trial detention found no mental disorder or impairment of judgment. According to the report, the accused allegedly downplayed the events by stating that a scandal was being generated over “just animals”. He also suggested that these acts served to “avoid violating a woman.”
In addition to the sentence, the French Justice ordered his permanent expulsion from the territory and his registration in the registry of sexual and violent offenders.
