Man Accused of Horse-Sex Trouble — Again

Updated 2:45 PM PST, Tue, Oct 20, 2009

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COLUMBIA, Tenn. - A man who allegedly videotaped a friend having sex with a horse at a farm in Washington state in 2005 is now accused of performing sex acts with a horse in Tennessee.

James Tait, 58, was arrested and charged Thursday with three counts of felony animal cruelty. Kenny Thomason, 44, the farm owner who lives with Tait in a Nashville suburb, was charged with two counts of the same crime.

“This is one of the most upsetting days I've ever dealt with,” Maury County Sheriff Enoch George said Friday, according to the Columbia Daily Herald.

Tait and Thomason were each being held on more than $100,000 bail.

According to an arrest warrant, Tait engaged in sex acts with a stud horse at the Double Branch Road farm over a span of several months.

A complaint from a citizen prompted an investigation. The person e-mailed investigators a photo of a man who appeared to be having sex with a Shetland pony.

Authorities went to the property, which Detective Terry Chandler said housed 13 horses, Shetland ponies, goats and dogs.

The detective said that it appears that people had been having sex with ponies and dogs as well as the stud horse.

Capt. Jimmy Tennyson said authorities have recovered pictures of Tait engaging in the acts with the horse.

"More charges are coming. They've been having sex with full-grown horses," Chandler told The Seattle Times on Monday. "He [Tait] has been here for four years and it looks like it has been going on for some time."

Fatal horseplay
In 2005, Tait was identified by police as having videotaped his friend Kenneth Pinyan having sex with a horse at a farm in Enumclaw, Wash., about 40 miles south of Seattle. Pinyan eventually died from internal injuries he suffered from having sex with the equine, authorities said.

Sheriff’s investigators in King County, Wash., found about 100 pornographic videos depicting Tait and others performing sex acts with animals, including the fatal incident, said Sgt. John Uruquhart.

But there were no Washington laws against bestiality at the time and there wasn't sufficient evidence the horse had been injured.

Tait was charged with criminal trespassing. He entered an Alford plea, meaning he did not admit guilt but acknowledged a jury likely would convict him. He was sentenced to one year of probation and fined $300.

After the incident, the Washington Legislature passed a law making bestiality a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The Enumclaw case was the subject of the recent documentary "Zoo" by Seattle filmmaker Robinson Devor.