BC Man Charged with Bestiality After Horse Assault on Vernon Farm
Warning: This story contains disturbing details. Discretion is advised.
A man has been charged with bestiality after being accused of sexually assaulting a horse on a Vernon, B.C., farm earlier this year. The alleged incident occurred at Abigail Equestrian, owned by Erica Van Meenen.
Seth Justin Christian, 34, was scheduled to appear in Vernon court at 9:30 a.m. On Thursday, March 26, 2026, and will return on Monday, March 30, following multiple brief appearances in Vernon Provincial Court this week, according to reporting from KelownaNow.
The case began in January when Van Meenen discovered surveillance footage that allegedly showed a man sexually assaulting one of her horses. She shared the footage on social media, prompting a public response and information provided to the RCMP.
Van Meenen described receiving notifications from her security cameras one night, showing a man on her property. She reviewed the footage and observed a man near her horse, Yola. “There was a clip and my horse [Yola] was looking very bright-eyed and aware that something was going on,” Van Meenen said in January. “So I scrolled to the next clip and that’s when a man walks by.”
Vernon RCMP responded to the property, and an officer reviewed the surveillance footage with Van Meenen. According to Van Meenen, the officer was visibly disturbed by what they saw. “The officer’s face just dropped. We both said, ‘Oh my God,’” she said. “He asked me right away if I was OK, and I just answered, ‘I’m in shock.’”
Under the Criminal Code of Canada, bestiality is defined as “any contact, for a sexual purpose, with an animal.” The National Centre for the Prosecution of Animal Cruelty states that bestiality is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
On Thursday, Van Meenen told Global News that the situation has been difficult to process, but she is relieved that charges have been laid. “There’s a lot of people out there who were quite triggered by the situation, and it brought up a lot of trauma for other people,” she said. “So it’s relieving for not just myself and the horses, the owners of the horses of my property, but also the general public, as people are upset like this. It just is not acceptable.”
Van Meenen expressed a desire to see Christian prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. “Well, I want to see him prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” she said. “What that is, I’m not sure. I’m not sure if there is a fat jail sentence for this or what it is, but I want to see not just the slap on the wrist.”