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CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #15671 Rating: 1.0 out of 5
Horse sexually assaulted
Conway, SC (US)Incident Date: Monday, Jul 27, 2009
County: Horry
Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 2 files available
Defendant/Suspect: Rodell Vereen
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
A South Carolina woman who had video surveillance of a man having sexual intercourse with one of her horses said she found the suspect behind her barn Monday night and pointed a shotgun at his head until police arrived and arrested him.
Rodell Vereen, 50, of Longs, S.C., is charged with buggery and trespassing after Barbara Kenley, who leases Lazy B Stables in Conway, S.C., told officers she had video of the suspect having sex with a horse then wanted to catch him at her barn.
"That stable was my getaway, my stress relief," said Kenley, who has leased the stable for 20 years. "Everybody has a place they like to go to get away. Now it is totally destroyed. It is the only thing I have in life."
A family member said Wednesday that Vereen was diagnosed with a "mental disease" more than 10 years ago.
"He's supposed to be on medication but I don't believe he's been taking it," said Beulah Vereen, also a neighbor. "He's not a violent man, I know."
It is the second time Rodell Vereen, who works for a landscaping company, has been charged with having sex with a horse at Lazy B Stables. Vereen pleaded guilty to buggery on July 21, 2008, and was sentenced to three years' probation, ordered to undergo mental health counseling, and told not to go near Lazy B Stables after he was caught having sex with a horse on Thanksgiving Day of 2007, according to the 15th Judicial Circuit.
Vereen has also been registered as a sex offender since pleading to the buggery charge last year, according to the State Law Enforcement Division.
"I have a false sense of security right now," Kenley said. "When they arrested him before, I thought that was the end of it. Now all of my insecurities are back. I can't go out there at certain times because I am afraid."
Vereen will have a probation hearing at 9 a.m. EDT Monday at J. Reuben Long Detention Center in Conway, according to Richard Laskill, a senior agent for the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services.
A judge probably will determine whether Vereen will serve the remainder of his three-year suspended sentence for the 2007 buggery charge.
"Hopefully he won't get out," Kenley said. "My goal is to get him away from me and my property."
Kenley, who lives four miles away from the stable, said she can't afford a security system for the stables. She said she spent several hundred dollars on the video surveillance system that was used to help identify Vereen.
"In 20 years I've never had a problem like this," Kenley said. "I never knew people did such a thing."
Kenley said Vereen was having sex with a 21-year-old horse named Sugar. Kenley said the horse is being treated for infections related to the incidents.
Kenley told officers she had video of Vereen "having relations" with one of her horses on July 19, according to a police report. "I had given police surveillance video before and they weren't able to identify him," Kenley said. "And I wanted to catch him firsthand. It was just a matter of time before I caught him."
On Monday night, Kenley said she went to check on the horses and saw an unknown vehicle parked near her property.
Kenley found Vereen behind a barn where the horses are kept and pointed a shotgun at him. Kenley called police on her cell phone and waited for officers to arrive.
"He was very subdued," Kenley said. "He was like ... cold. He may have been in shock."
Kenley said she asked Vereen what he was doing at the barn and that he said he was looking for a bathroom.
"I told him he was full of crap," Kenley said. "He apologized and said he didn't mean to hurt me."
Vereen admitted to officers that he did have "relations" with a horse on July 19, the report shows. Officers reported that they viewed a video showing the suspect having intercourse with a horse.
Bail was set at $10,000 for Vereen, who is being held at J. Reuben Long Detention Center.
Case UpdatesA South Carolina man caught on video having sex with a horse was sentenced in November to three years in prison after pleading guilty for the second time in two years to abusing the creature.
Rodell Vereen was also ordered never to go near the stable where the horse's owner caught him and held him for authorities at shotgun point over the summer. He apologized to the woman and to himself after admitting to buggery at the Horry County courthouse.
"I'm sorry about what I've done. I didn't mean to do it. It's my fault. I'm sorry for what I've done to myself," Vereen said during Wednesday's court hearing.
Vereen was arrested in July after Barbara Kenley caught him entering the barn at Lazy B Stables in Longs, about 20 miles northeast of Myrtle Beach. She had been staking out the stable for more than a week after setting up a surveillance camera and videotaping Vereen's assault on her 21-year-old horse named Sugar.
Kenley said she became suspicious because her horse was acting strange and getting infections, and she noticed things were moved around the barn and dirt was piled up near the horse's stall.
It wasn't the first time she'd caught Vereen. In late 2007, Kenley found him asleep in the hay after assaulting her horse. For that offense, he also pleaded guilty to buggery, received probation and had to register as a sex offender.
On Wednesday, the judge sentenced Vereen to five years in prison, but he will only have to serve three years behind bars as long as he successfully completes two years of probation. Vereen also was ordered to undergo additional mental treatment after he gets out of prison and was told to stay away from Kenley's stable.
Kenley told The Sun News of Myrtle Beach she was mostly happy with the verdict, but wished Vereen had got more prison time.
"I've been through hell for the last year and it's caused a lot of hardship," Kenley told the newspaper. "There's a lot of ridicule and jokes going around about this thing. And a person can only take so much." | Source: Fox News - Nov 4, 009
Update posted on Apr 14, 2010 - 1:13AM |
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