Robert Farmer will be behind bars 16 years for shocking crimes ... killing 21 cats and sexually abusing the carcass of one of them.
Farmer, who's dad is a retired captain from the San Jose PD, was apprehended at a Home Depot ... sleeping in his car with a dead cat in the center console. A necropsy revealed he had sexually abused the female tabby cat.
Police found chunks of fur and blood inside the car. They also found a backpack with fur-covered gloves and a hunting knife.