The man is alleged to have sexually assaulted five goats and a six-month-old lamb at an animal sanctuary in Pennes-Mirabeau, near Marseille in France
A man accused of “raping six animals”, leaving one dead, told a court “I’m a normal person” after his arrest.
The 19-year-old, known only as Massoud S, is alleged to have sexually assaulted five goats and a six-month-old lamb at an animal sanctuary in Pennes-Mirabeau, near Marseille in France.
He denied all the charges against him during a trial at Aix-en-Provence courthouse, which heard that police had caught the teenager behind a goat with his trousers lowered at Le Refuge d’un Moment animal sanctuary.
The defendant continued to profess his innocence despite DNA evidence being found and police detaining him during the alleged assault.
In mitigation, he claimed that he had missed his train back to Marseille, and with the sanctuary being close to the train station, he had no option but to stay the night there.
Animal sanctuary owner Cassandra Sortino said staff became suspicious in February after finding animals with rope marks on their legs, injuries to their vulvas and traces of blood, French newspaper 20 Minutes reported.
CCTV cameras were then set up around the animals before a man’s silhouette was captured several times with the alleged abuse discovered the following day.
Massoud S, who is originally from Afghanistan, said he came to France in November 2025 after losing his family in wartime bombings, with the ordeal having severely impacted his mental health.
According to a psychiatric assessment carried out during his detention, he reportedly told a doctor: “They’re making a huge fuss about it when they’re just animals.”
The teenager was handed a 30-month prison sentence, was banned from French territory and placed on the register of sexual and violent offenders.
Sanctuary owner Cassandra Sortino said she is still struggling to come to terms with the incident. “We can’t explain it morally,” she said. “We feel like we’ve failed.”
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