Long Island man, a serial animal abuse offender, charged for having sex with horses

Police in the US state of New York said on Thursday (26 October) that they have arrested a Long Island man for repeatedly having sex with horses. Steven Errante, 30, reportedly had sexual contact "with horses on two separate occasions".

The accused, who has a history of animal abuse, faces two counts of sexual misconduct with an animal and failure to register for the area's Animal Abuse Offender Registry. He was detained on Wednesday (25 October) for allegedly committing the acts between 25 August and 4 September at a stable in Pine Acres Boulevard in Dix Hills, the Daily Mail reported.

Errante was earlier arrested in December 2013 for having sex with a female dog and then savagely beating her with a metal baseball bat.

The dog suffered multiple fractures on her head and front legs, and had to be eventually euthanised because of the severity of the injuries.

Errante was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals under the New York State Agricultural and Markets law at the time, which he pleaded guilty to in October 2014 and was sentenced to two years in prison.

He was also indicted on an additional count of sexual misconduct in February 2014 and was ordered to register as an animal abuse offender, which he failed to do.

In this latest incident, investigators raided his home and discovered that the man had not changed his ways, sexually abusing the horses too.

It is not clear how officers investigating the case found out about the crime, but Suffolk County Police Commissioner Timothy Sini said that the authorities had "certainly sufficient evidence to charge him with those sex acts", according to News 12 Long Island.