Police: Clark Co. man had sex with donkey

NEILLSVILLE — A Neillsville man accused of having sex with a donkey earlier this month now faces criminal charges and possible jail time.

Gideon D. Swartzentruber, 20, has been charged in Clark County Circuit Court with one misdemeanor count of sexual gratification with an animal, court records show.

Although he was reluctant to talk with police, he admitted to the act in an interview with a detective, according to court records.

Those records allege:

Sometime before noon on Sept. 1, Swartzentruber was working in a Neillsville barn when he encountered a female donkey and briefly had sex with it.

“He said that he kind of touched the donkey and was playing around being crazy,” the detective wrote in the report, referring to Swartzentruber.

When asked why he had intercourse with the donkey, Swartzentruber said his “privates were out of control” and that he “got crazy and carried away,” according to the report.

Swartzentruber said he did not hurt the donkey and that this was the first time “he had done anything like that.”

The donkey’s owner caught Swartzentruber in the act, according to police. The identity of the owner and Swartzentruber's place of employment were blacked out in court records.

If convicted, Swartzentruber faces up to nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine.

He is scheduled for a court appearance on Sept. 30.

— Jonathan Anderson can be reached at jonathan.anderson@gannettwisconsin.com or 715-898-7010. Find him on Twitter as @jonathanderson.