Man guilty of bestiality

WESTMINSTER -- A Baltimore man pleaded guilty last week to one count of bestiality. He was given a suspended five-year sentence and placed on five years of supervised probation.

James Allan Nickoles, 26, entered his guilty plea in front of Circuit Judge Raymond E. Beck Sr. on Wednesday.

According to court records, Mr. Nickoles dropped off a dog at the Carroll County Humane Society with an attached letter describing "unnatural and perverted acts" last summer. In November, Mr. Nickoles dropped off photographs, a videotape and a letter further describing the acts, records show.

On April 8, court records say, a city camera store reported that photographs they were developing portrayed Mr. Nickoles with animals. He was arrested after returning to pick up the photographs.

As a condition of his probation, he was ordered to undergo counseling and to have no further contact with "any and all dogs."