EL CAJON, Calif. - A San Diego County man was sentenced Monday to more than three years in prison for sexually assaulting sheep at a high school livestock pen, causing the deaths of two of the animals.
James Donald Ray, 39, was found guilty in May of three felony counts of cruelty to animals and three misdemeanor charges of sexually assaulting an animal.
At his trial, Ray admitted to assaulting the sheep and other animals in the past but claimed he didn't kill the two sheep and believed the sex was consensual, public defender Debby Kirkwood said.
''He didn't he think he was hurting the animals,'' Kirkwood said.
Ray's sentence of three years and four months in prison was fair, Kirkwood said, adding that her client has some psychological problems. She declined to elaborate.
Ray was arrested July 31, 1999, at the livestock pen run by the Future Farmers of America chapter of El Capitan High School in Lakeside, 25 miles northeast of San Diego.
Authorities began investigating after students found one of the sheep injured from an apparent sexual assault.