Woman Pleads Guilty to Trespass After Dakota Zoo Selfie

Ashlee Brown was fined $300 after Monday's guilty plea and will be on unsupervised probation for nearly a year.

BISMARCK, N.D.–An 18-year-old Mandan woman has pleaded guilty to trespassing after authorities say she jumped a guard rail at Bismarck’s Dakota Zoo in July and approached a primate cage to take a selfie.

Ashlee Brown was fined $300 after Monday’s guilty plea and will be on unsupervised probation for nearly a year. She can keep the incident off her record if she stays out of trouble during that time.

Authorities say Brown touched a siamang, which is a small ape, and took a photograph. Brown didn’t testify in court and declined comment after her plea.

Zoo director Terry Lincoln said at the time that some diseases can be transmitted between humans and primates, and actions like Brown’s raise safety concerns for zoo visitors