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A man who allegedly sexually abused and then killed 21 cats was arrested after police found him unconscious in his car next to a dead female tabby.

Robert Roy Farmer, 25, was taken into custody and eventually pleaded guilty last year to 21 counts of felony animal cruelty– one for each of his feline victims, and one count each of misdemeanour battery and being under the influence.

The judge in the appalling California case wants to hear from a psychologist before deciding the sentence for the man from San Jose, who could go on the sex offenders register, local paper The Mercury News reports.

In a chilling revelation, the judge was reportedly told he had sexually abused the cats before killing them.

Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Sharon A. Chatman indicated she wants the psychologist who examined Robert Roy Farmer for his defence team to also testify on April 7.

(Image: Getty)

The judge said: "Hearing from both these experts would be helpful in making a determination.

“What is important for this court is to make sure I have all the information to make a reasoned and fair decision.”

The judge was told he would face the same restrictions as everyone else on the register.

Farmer was arrested when a San Jose police officer saw him unconscious in a car with a dead cat next to him.

Then, reportedly, a San Jose Animal Care and Services necropsy report on the orange female tabby cat found dead in his car showed it suffered blunt force trauma.

The cat also allegedly had dilated genitals, and a DNA match between Farmer and the cat was found under its claws.

Subsequent DNA tests linked Farmer to all 21 cats that were killed.

But Farmer’s attorney, Wesley Schroeder, claimed in an email that a test "designed to highlight abrasions or subtle trauma from sexual assault failed to show any evidence of even the most minuscule trauma".

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