HANDOUT•GETTY Darland allegedly boasted about having sex with dogs to undercover officers

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James Allen Darland is said to have boasted about sexually abusing neighbours horses, dogs and sheep to an undercover police officer. The retired delivery driver bragged he attacked the animals on his route and captured stray dogs, according to police.

Officers arrested the 56-year-old in a sting operation where they posted an online advert offering sex with animals at a remote farm, in exchange for intimate relations with a pooch. Darland - who drove a delivery truck for a national package delivery service in Arizona, US - allegedly offered the undercover officer sex with his dog he called Playmate.

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A statement from Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said he "regaled the detective of stories about his delivery route days where he unabashedly engaged in sex with customer's pets." Darland allegedly discussed sex acts he planned to perform on an un-neutered dog an officer took along to the meeting.

HANDOUT Darland was caught in an undercover sting operation

56YO James Allen Darland, retired delivery driver, told my deputies he would often have sex with customers' dogs while delivering packages. — Joe Arpaio (@RealSheriffJoe) October 26, 2015

The animal crimes unit took the pet Darland had to the Arizona Humane Society for an examination to determine if it had been sexually abused. He now faces charges over conspiracy to commit bestiality. Sheriff Arpaio, of Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, said: "We clearly confirmed his intentions to commit this crime by statements, recorded phone calls and videos, e-mails and actions witnessed by my detective - leaving no doubt in his mind that Darland fully intended to carry out his perversion by committing the crime of bestiality."