The judge sentenced Michael Crawford, 68, to 18 months of supervised probation for one count of conspiracy to commit bestiality.
Crawford pleaded guilty in the case.
Michael Crawford bought a round-trip ticket and arrived in Phoenix thinking the person who responded to an online ad he had posted was a horse owner.
The ad caught the attention of Maricopa County Sheriff‘s Office animal crimes detectives. They launched an investigation in October 2014 that eventually led to last week’s sting.
Detectives engaged Crawford in conversations online and over the phone.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said detectives learned Crawford has been sexually aroused by horses for years and has traveled extensively to find horse owners in various cities willing to allow him access to their animals.
According to Arpaio, Crawford told the undercover deputy that he purchased a non-refundable plane ticket to Phoenix and would be bringing five shirts on which he wanted the horse to urinate. He told detectives he would mail the clothing back to his home in Pennsylvania, where he apparently planned to wear them for arousal purposes, Arpaio said.
"Perversion has reached a new level," Arpaio said.
When Crawford landed in Phoenix, he was met at the airport by undercover deputies.
"I take this crime seriously," Arpaio said. "It is part of my office's fight against animal abuse. These animals are not meant to be sex toys for the perverted."
Arpaio said the emails, recorded phone calls, postings and a conversation from the airport to a pre-designated meeting with a posse volunteer and his mini horse confirmed Crawford's intentions of committing bestiality, a class 6 felony.
(WDAM-TV- Jan 14, 2016)
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