Clark County sheriff’s deputies are investigating a report of a masked man sneaking into a local dairy farm and sexually assaulting a calf.
The alleged sexual contact happened Nov. 1 at a barn among Battle Ground-based Andersen Dairy’s facilities on Northeast 162nd Avenue, sheriff’s Sgt. Brent Waddell said.
Video surveillance from the dairy farm shows a man walking into a barn. At one point, he ducks behind a bale of hay to hide from an employee. He puts on a mask, removes his pants and enters the pen of a calf, where he stayed for about 30 minutes, according to the sheriff’s office.
The dairy farm reported the sexual contact Nov. 16, when it reviewed security footage, Waddell said.
Deputies have not identified a suspect. They’re still working on obtaining and reviewing video, Waddell said.
The farm told the sheriff’s office that a similar incident happened this summer. Andersen Dairy did not immediately return a call seeking more information.
Similar incidents have happened in Clark County in the past, Waddell said.
“It wouldn’t be accurate to call it common, but things like this have happened in the county at random points in time,” he said.
Bestiality was legal in Washington until 2006, Waddell noted.
People accused of having sex with animals now face felony charges under a measure approved by the Legislature.
The measure was prompted by a widely publicized state case in which a man died of injuries suffered while having sex with a horse, according to the Associated Press.
At the time, Washington was one of 14 states where bestiality was not explicitly prohibited.
