A Citra man was arrested Monday afternoon after being accused of having sex with a miniature male pony.

After Major Crimes detectives from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office took 21-year-old Nicholas Anthony Sardo into custody, they say he confessed to the crime. He was charged with four counts of engaging in bestiality/sexual conduct with an animal and was being held on $4,000 bond.

A witness came forward on Oct. 16 and told detectives that she had seen Sardo having sex with the pony named Jackie G. in a pasture on a family member’s property three days earlier. Another witness, who also reported seeing the act, said she approached Sardo and he “immediately admitted to her that he had sex” with the pony,” a sheriff’s office report states.

Sardo told detectives that he had sex with the pony four times during the course of a week, and that he used a condom each time “because he didn’t want to get a disease” from the pony. He also told detectives “he knew he was wrong for what he did and that he was a sick man,” the report says.

Sardo’s family members own the pony and it’s currently under their care. Stipulations of Sardo’s future contact with the pony could be determined by a judge in the near future, although his court date hasn’t yet been set.