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Caryville resident Sharon Cruz-Pecina first bought goats to milk as a solution to her husband’s lactose intolerance.She never imagined in all her years of raising them that the animals would become the targets of sex crimes.Cruz-Pecina said at least three of her goats have been violated “multiple times” and the attacks are continuing on a routine basis.In September, she paid a local veterinarian to perform a rape exam on a goat named Lucy.The rape kit was collected and given to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office to be processed, but no results have been returned.The Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s forensics lab has an infamously long backlog, and human cases receive higher priority.Posted “no trespassing” signs and the installation of a surveillance system have done little to keep a man seemingly intent on having intercourse with the goats off her property, Cruz-Pecina said.She said she can tell when the subject has been on her property because she now recognizes when her goats exhibit signs of physical trauma.Washington County authorities say they investigate every call regarding the alleged crimes to Cruz-Pecina’s animals and will continue to pursue criminal charges against the suspect when incidents occur.But evidence is hard to come by.Cruz-Pecina said there is a man who lives in the vicinity of her home who in 2014 was charged for trespassing and engaging in sexual activity with animals.That same man was charged in October with trespassing on Cruz-Pecina’s property.Cruz-Pecina said she believes the suspect is on her property a few times a week and may have permanently crippled the front legs of one of her goats.She said she hopes something can be done before the subject turns his attention from animals to children or women.“I want him to get help. People in their normal minds don’t rape goats,” she said.Sex crimes against animals became illegal in Florida following a 2007 incident in which a 48-year-old man raped and killed a goat in Walton County’s Mossy Head.The suspect in that case was eventually arrested and sentenced to 11 months and 29 days in jail for animal theft charges involving a different goat.
