A man is behind bars after police allege that over at least the past year he has been soliciting farm owners for sex with their livestock, and when they spurned his advances, retaliated by sabotaging their vehicles.
Richard Decker, 31, was arrested in Sussex County, New Jersey, this month following a police investigation that found he harassed farm owners and planted homemade tire-shredding devices at farms around the area, according to the Washington Post.
Prosecutors allege that Decker has been sending out requests to have sex with large animals since at least August 2018. Many of those on the receiving end of the messages were disturbed and didn’t respond, police said that is when Decker would start harassing them.
In one incident, Decker allegedly threatened to beat a man’s wife with a stick. Owners of the livestock said he also posted negative reviews online about their various businesses.
Caitlyn McCurdy, who leases out horses in Jackson Township, said that she got messages on Craigslist from a person going by the username of “TackyChaps.” The person told her he was looking for a “longer term relationship” with a horse.
“I know you are trying to sell your mare but the reason I am contacting you today is because I am attracted to equine and wanted to ask … would you please give me the permission to meet and possibly have a sexual relationship with one of your horses?” the message read.
“I’m sorry if my request appears insulting. I am honestly attracted to horses and I’m looking for a longer term relationship with one, but I have no place to home one myself. I am a man in north Jersey and I would be very grateful if you would consider me for your horses. Thank you,” the sender added.
McCurdy said she thought the messages were “sickening” and never replied. She didn’t report the messages to authorities at the time, but posted them on Facebook as a warning to other equine owners in the area.
McCurdy said that after ignoring the messages, she found the oil filter on her car had been unscrewed, which caused her engine to have issues.
“I don’t know if it has anything to do with him but it is coincidental that it happened shortly after receiving those messages, and not responding back to him,” she explained.
After McCurdy posted the messages to Facebook, others began to come forward to say someone had reached out to them with similar requests.
In one of the messages, the sender said they were willing to pay money “in exchange for an expectation of privacy for the relationship.”
Another owner received a printed letter in their mailbox that said the person was looking to form “an intimate relationship with large farm animals such as horses, ponies, cows or similar,” and wanted to be introduced “to the partner of my dreams.”
Although it isn’t clear if police are tying Decker to those specific messages, investigators said that after a search of his home, Decker admitted to contacting farms and asking people to have sex with their livestock.
When the home was searched, police found tire spikes like the ones found around the farms, arrows with attached explosives, jars of flash powder, and a homemade .22-caliber gun.
Decker was slapped with charges associated with the explosives, manufacturing firearms, threatening assault, attempting to have sex with animals, and multiple counts related to online harassment.
At a Wednesday detention hearing, the judge ordered Decker held without bail on the grounds that he poses a danger to the community.
