An Afghan migrant has been arrested in France after local farmers repeatedly found their livestock with legs bound, and showing signs of having suffered sexual assaults.
The anti-crime brigade (BAC) of the French national police took a 19-year-old Afghan migrant into custody last week after farmers in the Bouches-du-Rhône region near Marseille set up motion-activated cameras to catch a suspected animal rapist.
Shepherds in the region first reported the abuse to police in early 2026, with a surge of attacks against animals recorded in February and March of this year. French newspaper Le Figaro states farmers found their sheep and goats with their legs tied up on several occasions, and the female animal’s genitals left bloody by the abuse.
Ouest-France reports that one attack in Februrary against a lamb left the animal in critical condition.
The motion-activated cameras worked and took images of the alleged perpetrator of high enough quality for police to make an arrest. The unnamed Afghan male appeared in court this week, and if convicted faces up to three years in prison for animal cruelty.