bestiality – praag.org

Woman convicted of bestiality

A woman has been convicted of bestiality by the Pretoria Regional Court, according to a report on Tuesday.

According to Beeld, Jana Smith, 32, pleaded guilty on Monday to four counts of bestiality and one of trying to use a child to create child pornography.

In an explanation of plea, she reportedly claimed she was manipulated and controlled by her former boyfriend, Morne Fourie, 38, and that he had fantasised about bestiality.

The newspaper reported that Fourie would appear separately in October on charges of distributing bestiality-related pornography, and of creating and distributing child pornography.

The newspaper reported that, in her explanation of plea, Smith admitted to having sex with two dogs on four occasions.

On the issue of child pornography, she reportedly said she had a close bond with the seven-year-old child, whom Fourie had asked her to video while bathing.

“I didn’t want to, but he kept on about it. I then set up the camera, but decided against it switched the camera off before the girl undressed. I’m very sorry about what happened,” Smith was quoted as saying.

Beeld reported that her lawyer Carmelitha Smit submitted in mitigation that Smith had completed Grade 10 in a special school, that she herself had been molested as a child, and that she was manipulated by Fourie.

Smith would be sentenced in August. – Sapa

Two Afrikaners on trial for bestiality in Pretoria

A labrador, such as allegedly used by Smit

The Pretoria News reports that the case of a Pretoria East woman who allegedly had sex with two dogs is finally ready to go to trial next week, having been transferred to a court with an Afrikaans-speaking magistrate.

Smartly dressed in a black suit and red blouse, Jana Smit, 31, and her co-accused and former lover, Morne Fourie, 38, stood in the dock as State prosecutor Heinrich Scholtz told the court the case had been transferred from another court because of language issues.

Scholtz indicated that the accused and defence in the matter were all Afrikaans-speaking and it would make it easier if the magistrate could speak Afrikaans too.

Smit and Fourie face five charges of bestiality, possession of child pornography and sexual enticement.

Scholtz also indicated that he was waiting for feedback from the senior public prosecutor after “discussing certain matters with her regarding the case”.

Smit was arrested in August last year after a complaint from an animal protection organisation. It is alleged that the organisation and the NSPCA had received home-made video footage and photographs of Smit having sex with a Staffordshire bull terrier and a Labrador.

The footage was immediately taken to the Moot police station. Smit was arrested hours later. It is believed that the Staffie belonged to Smit’s neighbours. At the time of her arrest, the Labrador was taken to the NSPCA where it was put up for adoption.

Fourie, an IT specialist from Garsfontein, was arrested three days later. It is alleged that he helped to produce some of the pornographic images.

Both were released on bail of R1 000 each following their first court appearance.

At the time the court ordered Smit to undergo a mental assessment at the Moot police station. The outcome of the assessment will be disclosed during her trial.

Earlier, the court heard that investigators trawled through 31 000 e-mails on Smit’s laptop as part of the investigation.

Sweden to ban bestiality

Sweden will next year introduce a total ban on bestiality, which until now has only been illegal if cruelty to the animal could be proven, the government said Thursday.

“The government is now tightening the rules surrounding bestiality so there will be no doubt about the fact that it is prohibited to inflict suffering on animals,” Minister for Rural Affairs Eskil Erlandsson said in a statement.

“The should be no doubt that bestiality is unacceptable.”

Until now, bestiality was illegal in Sweden only if it could be proven that the animal had subjected to suffering.

From January 1, any sexual act with an animal will be punishable by a fine, a maximum prison sentence of two years, or both, even if the animal shows no sign of injury or suffering.

“It’s very good that the law will be changed,” a spokesman for the Swedish Federation of Veterinarians, Johan Beck-Friis, told AFP.

“It’s very important that society makes a clear statement that it is unacceptable to use animals that way,” he said.

The ban will bring Sweden in line with a European Union directive.

Germany introduced a ban in December, following in the footsteps of Britain, France, and Switzerland among others.

The Swedish parliament is expected to pass the bill into law soon, as there is broad political consensus on the issue.

According to Beck-Friis, under the current law veterinarians may suspect that an animal has been sexually abused but they are generally unable to prove it.

As a result, there are no statistics available on how common bestiality is in the country.

In 2006, the latest year for which statistics are available, about 100 cases of animals suffering injuries suspected of being related to bestiality were brought to the authorities’ attention, Beck-Friis said. – AFP