George Danakis sentenced over St Marys High School bestiality and break-in offences in Sydney’s west after he was caught on security cameras

A man who took part in ice-fuelled, sexual escapades with sheep inside a school’s shed was not in his right mind at the time of the offence, a court has been told.

George Danakis, 44, had been awake for five days when he was caught with his pants down by officers after having sex with a male sheep at St Marys High School in Sydney‘s west in May 2022. 

Teaching staff had caught him on CCTV after they suspected that someone had been breaking into their milking shed after hours. 

Police found Danakis with his pants down sexually engaging with the male sheep while a female goat was observed to be in a state of shock beside them on May 18. 

Danakis pleaded guilty at Penrith District Court to damaging property, bestiality, possessing bestiality material, break and enter and possessing an unauthorised firearm before he was sentenced to over three years behind bars.

George Danakis, 44, had been awake for five days when he was caught with his pants down by officers after having sex with a male sheep at St Marys High School in Sydney’s west in May 2022

Teaching staff at the school had caught him on CCTV after they suspected that someone had been breaking into their milking shed after hours

Footage that the teaching staff had compiled was used as evidence against Danakis during his trial. 

The court was told that he was recorded herding two goats into a gated area on May 6 before he was filmed a week later walking around the same shed naked from the waist down. 

When officers found Danakis 11 days later he told them that he was in the shed at the time looking for his phone and that he had removed his pants to urinate.

A phone belonging to Danakis was found in the sheep paddock on June 24, but it only added to his troubles when police searched it. 

Content pertaining to bestiality was stored on the phone alongside a photo of him holding a pump action shotgun which he did not have permits for.

Danakis’ methamphetamine use leading up to his arrest, combined with his affinity for enjoying ‘sheep on the side’, led to ‘the state of the mind in which he did what he did’, his defence lawyer told the court on Tuesday.

Danakis displayed ‘sexual deviance’, the court was told, which made him lose all inhibitions. 

His lawyer shared that Danakis had told his psychiatrist that he was only attracted to animals while under the influence of the drug because it increased his sex dive.

Danakis did eventually admit to his psychiatrist that he was ‘pretty much into bestiality’ after seeing it on the internet, but that he still liked women.

His methamphetamine use, combined with his affinity for enjoying ‘sheep on the side’, led to ‘the state of the mind in which he did what he did’, his defence lawyer told Penrith District Court

The court heard that Danakis was diagnosed with schizophrenia and that he had stopped taking his prescribed medication in the weeks before his actions. 

However it was agreed between the prosecution and defence that this was not a ‘causal’ factor toward offending, and that his ‘paraphilic disorder’ of attraction toward animals and his substance abuse were key factors.

In determining an appropriate sentencing for the crimes, Judge Sophia Beckett cited a lack of case law which could be referred to and the curiosity of the crimes. 

Danakis was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for his offences.