Horse
Alabama man accused of molesting horse on multiple occasions - Representational image Reuters

An Alabama teenager is awaiting trial after he was charged for allegedly sexually molesting a horse on multiple occasions. Daniel Bennett appeared in court on Tuesday, 9 January, after his arrest.

The 18-year-old was caught in the horse's stable by its owner, Francine Janes, who told investigators that she has found evidence of his crimes in the animal's stall. Janes said that she caught Bennett on 4 January night after her dogs started barking and led her to the scene.

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The woman and her husband reportedly found the teenager hiding in a barn stall. When confronted, Bennett allegedly told them that he liked horses and "wanted to pet them", WPMI-TV reported.

But the couple were not convinced and Janes' husband held Bennett at gunpoint until police arrived at the scene. The woman also said that she believed that this was not the first time the accused had trespassed inside the 20-year-old mare Polly's area as she had found evidence in the stall multiple times throughout the month of December.

"I would say seven maybe 10 times. Toilet paper had been left. The hay stacks had been removed. Items had been turned over. And that's as far as I want to go," Janes told WPMI-TV.

An official warrant filed against Bennett states that he was arrested for the crime of bestiality listed as a misdemeanor, alleging that he "engaged in or submitted to any sexual contact with an animal, to-wit: a horse" and was charged with possession of burglar's tools, sexual misconduct and second-degree criminal trespassing.

Bennett is expected to begin trial on 18 January.

The incident comes around three months after a Long Island man was arrested on charges of repeatedly "having sex with horses".

Steven Errante, 30, reportedly had sexual contact "with horses on two separate occasions". It was said that the accused has a long history of animal abuse and after the October arrest, he faces two counts of sexual misconduct with an animal and failure to register for the area's Animal Abuse Offender Registry.