A Sauk Centre, Minn., man was sentenced Wednesday to two months in jail and five years of probation for trying to meet up with a police decoy posing as a 17-year-old girl in Woodbury so he could pay her to have sex with his 240-pound English mastiff dog named “Lincoln.”

Lee Adam Terro’s sentence followed a plea agreement the 49-year-old struck with the prosecution in March. For pleading guilty to felony solicitation of someone under 18 for prostitution, two other charges were dismissed: gross misdemeanor attempted bestiality and misdemeanor cruelty-mistreatment of animals.

Lee Adam Terro (Courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office)

The plea deal also called for a 60-day jail cap and a stay of imposition, meaning the felony conviction will be deemed a misdemeanor if Terro successfully follows terms of his probation. He will receive credit for four days already served in custody.

According to the criminal complaint:

Terro responded to an online advertisement by the East Metro Human Trafficking Task Force on Sept. 20, 2022, and set up a meeting with an undercover officer. He initiated a text conversation with the decoy, saying he wanted the girl to have sexual intercourse with his dog while he watched and masturbated. Twice the decoy told Terro she was 17 years old, which he acknowledged.

Terro agreed to pay the decoy $350 to watch and an extra $50 to film the sexual encounter. Over the course of several days, Terro “vividly described” in texts “the process of how his dog would have sexual intercourse,” the complaint states. He said it would last anywhere between a half-hour and an hour.

Terro sent the decoy several links to bestiality websites that showed dogs having sex with people. He said he would bring flavored vodka.

Officers were in Sauk Centre when Terro left his home for the Oct. 2 meet-up at a Woodbury gas station. They followed him for 120 miles until he got to the gas station, when he was arrested.

In his car, officers found Lincoln, along with $400 and a bottle of flavored vodka. Officers seized Terro’s cellphone and recovered the text message string between him and the decoy. Lincoln was also seized and handed over to the Animal Humane Society in Woodbury, according to court documents.

In an interview with police and also at his March 26 plea hearing, Terro admitted to searching for a commercial sex ad, communicating with someone he believed was a 17-year-old girl and arranging the meeting. He told police that once he arrived at the gas station, he planned to cancel the meeting.

“The dedicated work of our East Metro Human Trafficking Task Force is pivotal in safeguarding our community’s most vulnerable population,” Washington County Attorney Kevin Magnuson said in a Wednesday statement. “By prosecuting cases like this one, we take a significant step toward eradicating the demand for this illicit industry in Washington County.”

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