Peter Lerwill, 30, of Western Road, Hurstpierpoint, plead guilty to attempt intercourse with an animal at Lewes Crown Court on Thursday, October 20, and was sentenced to 12-weeks in prison.
In addition to the custodial sentence Lerwill has a five-year criminal behaviour order prohibiting him from owning or having any unsupervised custody or control of a dog.
He will also be on the sex offenders register for five-years.
On Thursday, June 9, Lerwill was arrested after police received a report of a man dressed in women’s clothing involved in a sexual act with a dog.
The dog was immediately taken to a vet for an assessment and any care.
Thankfully the dog did not suffer any physical injury and was returned to it’s owner.
Lerwill was charged and remanded in custody immediately following his arrest where he then spent a short period of time remanded in prison while an address could be verified where he would not have access to any animals.
He was then released on conditional bail by the courts pending a trial, during which time Lerwill changed his plea to guilty.
Forensic samples obtained during the dog assessment strengthened the case that there had been activity of a sexual nature with the dog.
Lead investigator Oliver Robinson said: “This was an extremely upsetting case where Lerwill preyed on a defenceless animal. This was also a challenging case which relied on witness accounts rather than the victim, as in most cases.
“Thanks to the prompt reporting by the informant we were able to arrest Lerwill and complete forensic examinations within a timely manner which helped secure the conviction. This conviction means Lerwill will be appropriately managed by a specialist team of officers for five years to ensure compliance with the orders imposed by a court.
“The dog was able to be returned to it’s owner who can be confident that their dog and others cannot be targeted by Lerwill going forward.”
