JEFFERSON COUNTY — A 59-year-old Bluford man was arrested Monday morning in connection with 17 kittens discovered in a trash bag Sunday in Wayne County.

Curtiss Bean was arrested after an investigation by the Jefferson County and Wayne County sheriff’s departments into 17 kittens that were found in a trash bag Sunday in a Wayne County dumpster. The kittens and their mother are now at the Wayne County Humane Society.

After an investigation by deputies, detectives, and wardens, Bean was taken into custody. He is charged with 17 counts of Cruel Treatment to Animals, and Aggravated Cruelty to Animals.

Bean is being held in the Jefferson County Justice Center with bail to be set. He reportedly has confessed to authorities that he knew the kittens were alive when he put them in the trash bag and tossed them in the dumpster.