A police officer in Bossier, Louisiana, was arrested Friday on child pornography charges, months after being accused of animal abuse.

It had been two days since Terry Yetman, 38, a patrol division officer with the Bossier City Police Department, had been out of jail when he was arrested from his home in Minden by Louisiana State Police and the Marshal's Violent Offender Task Force. He was booked into the Bossier Maximum Correctional Center on 31 counts of possessing child pornography. His bond was set at $620,000, ABC-affiliated KTBS reported.

Yetman was placed on paid administrative leave, pending an internal investigation, in November, after allegations of animal abuse surfaced against him. In the following month, he was arrested and charged with 40 counts of sexual abuse of an animal.

Police began investigating Yetman in August and during their search of his house, seized electronic devices included pornography involving sexual acts with an animal. According to prosecutors, Yetman allegedly engaged in sexual conduct with a dog and possessed pornographic photos of a person engaged in sexual conduct with an animal.

Authorities also removed the accused's dog – a Belgian malinois named Boss – from his house. With the court's permission, it was sent to a rescue center in Texas since the officers did not want to hand it over to a local animal shelter. It was later castrated as the court believed it was the best course of action for the animal's health and safety, given the "alleged activity that has taken place between dog and human."

In February, Doll Stanley, a campaign director for In Defense of Animals – a California-based animal protection organization – started an online petition for the maximum penalties against Yetman if he was convicted of the animal abuse charges. Stanley submitted the petition to District Attorney Schuyler Marvin on Thursday.

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Bestiality is illegal in many European countries, with the exception of Denmark, Finland, Hungary and Romania Ed Yourdon/Creative Commons

"Thousands of In Defense of Animals supporters were moved by this horrific case and want to see justice done," Stanley said. "A healthy society protects its innocents: vulnerable children, animals, elderly citizens. Sexual predators must be made to fear the loss of freedom and a stinging financial impact. We call on District Attorney Marvin Schuyler to take zero tolerance stance on bestiality and prosecute Yetman to the fullest if he is found guilty."

A description for the petition, which gathered over 20,000 signatures, read: "We will let Bossier County 26th District Attorney Marvin Schuyler know we are watching this case very closely and that we fully expect Yetman to be prosecuted for each of the forty counts of felony animal abuse and that no plea deals or mercy should be offered for his atrocious crimes."

Yetman pleaded not guilty to the animal abuse charges. His request for a reduction of bond amount – originally $350,000 – was denied in January. Another bond reduction request was scheduled for April 23.

This article originally appeared in IBTimes US.