Goat prank may yield jail sentences

EUSTIS, Fla., June 17 (UPI) -- Police said five recent high school graduates in Eustis, Fla., could face up to a year in jail after sneaking two goats into their former school.

Police Chief Fred Cobb said the five Eustis High School graduates have been charged with criminal trespass and a sixth graduate who is under the age of 18 has been referred to juvenile court, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel reported Tuesday.

Investigators allege the students brought the goats, a mother and her kid, into the school under cover of night. The animals were discovered by a custodian June 5.

Cobb said the students, who graduated May 30, were "outstanding young men ... who, this one time, exercised poor judgment." He said the five charged with trespassing may be eligible for an intervention program that could keep them out of jail and prevent them from receiving criminal records.

Cobb said authorities want "to hold (the pranksters) accountable but not destroy them."

"You can't simply ignore it," he said. "What if we had responded and made a dynamic entry (to the school) and confronted them? We could have ended up with a tragic incident."