Attorney General Daniel Cameron Announces Indictment of a Bracken County Woman and a Mason County Man for Sexual Crimes Against an Animal

 Office of Special Prosecutions Secures Kentucky’s First Indictment for Bestiality Since Passage of 2019 Law

Frankfort, Ky. (June 10, 2020) – Attorney General Daniel Cameron today announced a Mason County Grand Jury indicted a Bracken County woman and a Mason County man for sexual crimes against an animal. Evidence presented by the Office of Special Prosecutions led to what is believed to be Kentucky’s first charge of bestiality since passage of a 2019 law making sexual crimes against an animal a Class D felony.

On Monday, June 8, 2020, a Mason Circuit Court Grand Jury indicted Nolene Renee Horn, age 44, of Bracken County and Christopher S. Jones, age 50, of Mason County on two counts of sexual crimes against an animal, a Class D Felony, and two counts of torture of a dog, a Class A Misdemeanor. Warrants have been issued for the arrest of both defendants.

“This type of heinous and obscene crime cannot go unpunished,” said Attorney General Cameron.  “I am grateful for the Maysville Police Department’s diligent investigation of this case, and our Office of Special Prosecutions is pleased to assist Mason County by prosecuting the case on behalf of the Commonwealth.”

The Maysville Police Department investigated the case, and the Boone County Sheriff’s office provided forensic support. After the investigation, the Attorney General’s Office of Special Prosecutions was appointed to handle the case. Assistant Attorney General Rewa Zakharia will prosecute the case on behalf of the Commonwealth.

Senate Bill 67, sponsored by Senator Julie Raque Adams, was unanimously passed by the General Assembly in 2019 and made sexual crimes against an animal a Class D felony.  The new law took effect on June 27, 2019.

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