Woman has sex with stallion on loan; husband collects child porn; trainer connected to case is murdered

SOUTH CAROLINA - January 24, 2022

January 24, 2022

Bestiality cases can get really complicated. This one involves a breeding and training farm in South Carolina. The news reporters tell it best, so to learn more click on the links. But here's the gist of it: In 2017, trainer Martjin Stuurman and breeder Abigail Ronco - who were romantically linked at the time - started a busines together. By September 2019, Ronco had married Damian Connor but was still working with Stuurman.

In the summer of 2019 several horses had been assaulted at the Ronco/Stuurman barn - at least one of them sexually, according to an examining veterinarian.

Meanwhile, Connor was being investigated privately for possible possession of child pornography. As a result of a search warrant, in May 2020 investigators discovered not only child pornography, but videos of a man and woman having sex with one or more horses. During questioning, Ronco admitted that she and Connor were the people in the videos. The couple were then arrested and charged with buggery. Connor was also charged with distribution of child pornography. 

After the arrest of Connor and Ronco, Stuurman filed for child custody as well as restraining orders against Connor and Ronco. But that case was ultimately dropped after Stuurman was found murdered in his home in June, 2021. While Stuurman's murder remains unsolved, Connor pleaded guilty to buggery and second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. Ronco's case is apparently still pending.

The moral(s) of the story: animal sexual abuse occurs more often than you think; horses are abused more often than you think; women are involved more often that you think; and there are far more hidden victims than we'll ever know - horse owners, children, family and friends and coworkers of the offenders, people who have to arrest and try and convict them, and people like you and me who care.

Horse sexually assaulted at local fairgrounds

DURANGO, CO - October 1, 2021

In late June, Jonah Barrett-Lesko, 26 was caught on surveillance cam attempting to have sex with a horse being boarded at the local fairgrounds. Barrett-Lesko initially fled the scene, leaving behind a backpack containing burglarly tools. In a public statement Detective Tony Meraz said "This case is very concerning based on the sexually deviant behavior of the suspect. We believe there is a public safety concern." 

After returning to the homeless encampment where he was living, Barrett-Lesko bragged about his encounter to several people, and within a week was arrested by Durango PD. Barrett-Lesko, already well known to the police, was charged with animal cruelty and possession of burglary tools. As a result of plea bargaining, however, the animal cruelty charges were dropped and Barrett-Lesko pleaded guilty to trespassing on multiple properties.

This week, while serving time in the county jail on trespassing charges. Barrett-Lesko escaped by climbing over a wall in the rec yard.

 What's disturbing about this case is not Barrett-Lesko's ability to elude police; it's that the police recognized the seriousness of the crime, but the judicial system didn't feel the same way. Because of the plea agreement, commission of bestiality will not be part of his record, and he will be able to minimize the acts he committed - in housing, job, and voting applications, for example.   Allowing an animal molester to plead down to tresapassing is equivalent to letting a child molester plead down to loitering.

OTTAWA, Ontario, Canada - July 23, 2021

In the early morning hours of January 15, officers responded to a report of breaking and entering at a horse stable. When they arrived, Ryan Dodd, 30 was caught with his pants down, next to a mini mare whose rump had been smeared with a liberal amount of scented massage oil. Dodd told the police "This is embarrassing [but] it’s not what it looks like”. The mini horse had been tied with one rope around her neck and another around her hindquarters. Her genitalia was very clean, but no evidence of trauma or semen was found. Officers found a pink silicone replica vagina in the pocket of Dodd’s hoodie. Dodd, who was dishonorably discharged from the Canadian military in 2017, told the officers he had been drinking and had done two lines of cocaine prior to going to the barn. In July 2021, he was found guilty of bestiality and breaking and entering. Dodd is expected to appeal.