The son of a pig farm manager accused of sexually assaulting a pig called Olivia has been photographed for the first time, as campaigners demand the animal be freed.
Bradley O’Reilly, 30, was charged after he was allegedly caught on secret camera by activists inside the Midland Bacon pig farm at Carag Carag in north-central Victoria, where his father Ricky O’Reilly is boss.
The video shows a person with his pants down allegedly sexually assaulting pig number 8416, now called Olivia by activists, on February 11.
O’Reilly appeared in person at the Echuca court on August 6 on the bestiality charge and did not speak out as his lawyer requested an adjournment to allow for further disclosure of materials relating to the case.
Magistrate Russell Kelly adjourned the case until October 8 and extended O’Reilly’s bail.
The O’Reilly family is well known in the local community and sporting circles in north central Victoria.
The defendant won Stanhope Football Club’s 2019 award for “most determined” player and was in the reserve team until last year.
Victorian detectives charged O’Reilly after being given video footage of Olivia by activists from the Agricultural Transparency Project, who allegedly broke into Midland Bacon to plant the camera.
Bradley O’Reilly, accused of bestiality, is pictured above
Footage taken by animal rights activists inside Midland Bacon in Victoria’s outback allegedly shows the son of the pig farm’s manager, Bradley O’Reilly, committing an act of bestiality on a sow.
FTP has now set up a Change.org petition demanding the release of the pig and the campaign for Olivia is being supported through Instagram posts and videos.
Activists also staged a protest outside the pigsty gates with banners and stuffed pig toys.
Prominent animal rights activist Sophie Wilcher, who started the petition on Olivia’s behalf, claimed the footage showed O’Reilly assaulting the pig in a restrictive pen after the end of a work shift.
In the video he is supposedly seen lowering his pants and committing the alleged sexual assault.
Sow No. 8416 was currently in a farrowing crate, which deliberately confines sows during pregnancy and after farrowing to reduce the risk of the mother lying on her newborn piglets and crushing them.
“We have made these images available on our website, along with other photographs and footage of the usual and routine cruelty at the same facilities,” FTP said.
The camera that activists placed inside the pigsty was not intended to expose any bestiality, but rather other alleged incidents of abuse that the FTP was investigating.
Activists have organized a campaign to free pig number 8416 (above), which they have named Olivia, and have launched a petition demanding that the pig be released from captivity.
Pig number 8416 now has her own ‘Free Olivia’ T-shirt and activists have protested with signs and pig toys outside the pigsty to demand her release and medical treatment following the alleged attack.
This allegedly included piglets killed with blunt force and procedures carried out by farm workers without anesthesia, such as tooth extraction, which is a legal practice on animals.
In a separate matter, O’Reilly pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates Court on Friday to 22 charges, including recklessly engaging in conduct, namely strangulation, which placed his victim at risk of serious injury on multiple occasions.
The court heard O’Reilly had behaved “like an animal” towards the woman, whom he admitted to strangling, threatening and giving her a black eye.
He was allowed to walk free from court on a two-year community corrections order, which requires him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid community work and undergo treatment.
Magistrate Simon Zebrowski made clear how close he came to jailing O’Reilly for his attacks on the woman.
“This has been a very difficult sentencing process for me because his behavior alone is enough for me to sentence him to a prison term,” she said.
Mr Zebrowski said the community needed to understand that prison was the last resort for criminals.
“Prison does not rehabilitate. Prison does not serve that purpose, it is a last resort because it is only a punishment,” he told O’Reilly.
Activists stormed Midland Bacon and set up cameras to record the alleged animal cruelty. The footage allegedly captured the manager’s son sexually assaulting one of the pigs.
Activists protested outside Midland Bacon, leaving toys, tokens and notes for the pig, saying in one message: “Dear Olivia of the world. We’re sorry. We’re trying.”
“What would I gain by sending you to jail today? I might make a lot of people in the community happy. There might even be people who read about this on the news and think, ‘Yeah, beauty, that animal is going to jail.'”
Mr Zebrowski warned O’Reilly that he would face immediate prison time if he behaved in that manner again.
“If you can’t control your emotions, if you feel the need to put your hand around someone’s neck, if you feel the need to take their phone and smash it or throw it away, any of those things are red flags,” she said.
Mr Zebrowski said O’Reilly showed all the signs of a controlling and coercive individual.
“I’m in control. I’m not going to let this go. I’m the boss. That kind of coercive, controlling behavior. All those red flags on your record and if you do something like that again, you’re going to jail,” he warned.
“If you don’t care about anything but yourself, that’s where you’re going to go. And if you don’t learn coping skills and can’t get out of the ways of a wild dog, that’s where you’re going to go.”
