K.J. Yossman The true story of a dolphin sex scandal in the North of England in the early 1990s is the subject of a new Wondery podcast. “Hooked on Freddie,” from transatlantic production company Blanchard House, is set to launch on the platform on Sept.
19, with the first three episodes available on that day. It tells the story of animal rights activist Alan Cooper, who developed an unusually close friendship with a wild bottlenose dolphin (nicknamed Freddie by locals) when the mammal appeared in Amble Harbour, in Northumberland, in the mid 1980s.
But after feuding with an animal trainer at a local marine park, Cooper found himself accused of molesting Freddie. By 1991, Cooper was facing criminal charges of sexually assaulting a dolphin — setting off a tabloid storm.
It took the jury just an hour to clear him unanimously of the charge, but the unfounded accusation ended up changing the course of Cooper’s life.
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