Massoud S., aged 19, who was born in Afghanistan and arrived in France in November 2025, was sentenced on Monday evening by the court in Aix-en-Provence to thirty months’ imprisonment, to be served whilst he remains in pre-trial detention. He stood trial for sexual assaults and serious abuse of six animals – goats and a six-month-old lamb – at the educational farm and animal shelter ‘Un moment’ in Les Pennes-Mirabeau, near Marseille.
The offences, which were committed on several occasions between February and April, were reported after a vet had noticed signs of restraint on the legs of some of the animals, injuries to the vulva and traces of blood. After installing a CCTV camera, the owner, Cassandra Sortino, had spotted the silhouette of a man on several occasions. The accused was finally arrested in the act in early April behind a goat, wearing latex gloves and with his trousers down. His DNA was found on the animals, and his mobile phone was tracked near the farm on several occasions.
During the hearing, Massoud S., who is staying at an asylum seekers’ centre in Marseille’s 3rd arrondissement, denied the allegations. “That’s impossible,” he said. In response to the judges’ questions, he replied: “I don’t know how to explain it.” He explained that on the night of his arrest he had missed his train to Marseille: “That place was very close to the station; for me, there was nowhere else I could have spent the night.”
During the psychiatric assessment carried out whilst he was on remand, the doctor found that he did not suffer from any mental disorder and that the defendant had partially admitted to the offences. “People are making a big deal out of it, but after all, it’s just animals,” the defendant is reported to have said. He also explained that whoever had done this had certainly done so to “avoid raping a woman”, as the goat would not recognise him anyway. In court, he found it difficult to recall these statements, which the lawyers for the animal welfare organisations, acting as civil claimants, had drawn attention to. “I’m a perfectly normal person,” he said in his defence.