WARREN — The first person charged under a law in Warren banning bestiality pleaded not guilty Monday in Warren Municipal Court to charges accusing her of engaging in sexual conduct with animals.

Amber Finney, 33, of Warren, who is being held without bond in the Trumbull County Jail, is due back in court April 20, according to court records.

The charges stem from a video released in January to Tribune Chronicle newspartner WKBN 27 and later given to Warren police that showed a woman performing sex acts on a dog. Finney was charged Jan. 24, but was out of town and was expected to turn herself in.

Police arrested Finney about 9 p.m. Sunday at her home at 1125 Ward St. NW after being called to Walgreens on West Market Street for a man and a woman acting strangely, according to a police report. Police searched the nearby area and saw Finney at her home before she ran inside, the report states. Police were let inside the house and found Finney in the basement, the report states.

She told police she did not remember the event because she was drugged and something was placed in her drink, the report states.

Finney is the first person charged under the city’s bestiality law, the first law of its kind to be passed in the state of Ohio. The law provides enhanced penalties for those convicted of having sex with animals and was passed unanimously June 22 by city council.

The law made bestiality a first-degree misdemeanor, which means a convicted person may receive a jail sentence of up to 180 days and given a $1,000 fine for each count. If someone is found guilty, he or she may be required to pay for boarding and care of the animals.

The law originated from the case of Salvador Rendon of Warren, who investigators say had sex multiple times over six years with two boxers in his Ward Street NW home. Rendon pleaded guilty to a charge of animal cruelty.

Ohio lawmakers later passed a law banning bestiality in the state.

ddye@tribtoday.com