May 08, 2015
The New Jersey Senate unanimously passed a bill Thursday that would ban bestiality in the state, NJ.com reports.
The Senate Judiciary committee voted 11-0 to pass the bill (A3012), which explicitly prohibits human sexual activity with animals.
Previously, New Jersey authorities have attempted to prosecute bestiality under animal cruelty statutes. But in at least one case, a former Moorestown police officer was cleared after being accused of molesting calves because a judge ruled that it didn't constitute animal cruelty. (The man went to prison for child molestation.)
"It doesn't occur very often, but when it does occur it kind of straps the prosecutor's hands," state Sen. Christopher "Kip" Bateman, a sponsor, told NJ.com.
The Assembly passed the bill last summer.
