Man Charged With Buggering Horse Again

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (CN) - A South Carolina man is scheduled to appear in a Horry County courtroom on Monday on a buggery charge: having sex with a horse - again.

Rodell Vereen allegedly was caught by Barbara Kenley, owner of the Lazy B. Stables near Conway, when she went to check on her horses, which she keeps at stables a few miles from her home. Kenley told police she saw an unknown vehicle parked near her property, and cornered Vereen at gunpoint in a holding pen behind her barn.

A week earlier, a surveillance video taken inside the barn allegedly captured the 50-year-old man having sex with the horse, but the image wasn't clear enough for police to make a definitive identification.

"I wanted to catch him firsthand," Kendley told reporters who gathered at her barn after the arrest. "I knew it was only a matter of time."

A police spokesman said Vereen admitted having "relations" with the horse on July 19. He previously pleaded guilty to having sex with the same horse, named Sugar, at the Lazy B. Stables on Thanksgiving Day 2007.

He was sentenced to 3 years probation, ordered to undergo mental health counseling, and told to stay away from the stable.

He also was registered as a sex offender.

A family member told The Sun News of Myrtle Beach that Vereen was diagnosed with mental illness more than 10 years ago and may not have been taking his medication.

Buggery is punishable by up to 5 years in prison in South Carolina.

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