Horry County Police arrested a Longs man early Tuesday morning on charges that he had sex with a horse. This is the second time he's been arrested for this.
Rodell Vereen, 50, is charged with trespassing and buggery, a felony classified as an "offense against morality."
The story begins at Lazy B Stables, a quiet horse farm that Barbara Kenley calls her retreat.
"This is supposed to be my enjoyment, my serenity, my peace of mind out here. This is where I come to get away from everything," Kenley told NewsChannel 15 in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.
But Kenley's tranquil respite fell apart near the end of 2007 when she discovered a man had been having sex with her horse. What was once a place for enjoyment turned into a place of disbelief and disgust.
"He's totally destroyed that. For a whole year and a half, I've been destroyed."
Kenley first stumbled upon Rodell Vereen in a horse stall on Thanksgiving Day in 2007. She described seeing her horse, Sugar, standing in the stall with Rodell sleeping above on some hay. She called police, but it turned out to be more than a simple trespassing.
According to a police report taken that November day, Vereen admitted to police he was there to have sex with the horse and had been there several times in the previous months.
"I don't know how to explain to you the sick feeling," Kenley said as she recalled the first time she found out.
After the initial encounter, Kenley said her horse got infections that required veterinary attention.
In July 2008, Vereen pleaded guilty to buggery. A judge sentenced him to three months probation and required him to undergo mental evaluation, to register as a sex offender, and to stay away from Lazy B Stables.
The sentence was little comfort to Kenley.
"Every night going to bed (I was) thinking 'is that man out there with my animals? What is he doing to my horse?' I just couldn't sleep."
In the months that followed Vereen's conviction, Kenley began suspecting Vereen had come back. She would find bails of hay stacked in a stall, and Sugar continued getting infections. She would spend some nights at the farm watching, but saw nothing.
"When I (would) come to feed the next morning that I hadn't sat out here (and) waited for him, and she'd been molested again, it was devastating."
While she suspected it was happening again, she didn't have the solid proof, and police couldn't make an arrest. They needed more, so Kenley installed surveillance cameras.
On July 19, Kenley got what she needed, an hour and a half long taping of who police say is Vereen having sexual intercourse with the horse.
However, Kenley didn't take the evidence directly to police. Instead, she wanted to wait until he came back and catch him red-handed -- which is exactly what police say happened early Tuesday morning.
Just after midnight, police say Kenley found Vereen running from the stall and chased him with a shotgun and cornered him until police arrived. They again charged him with trespassing and buggery.
"He didn't resist or fight back or deny. Now he did keep apologizing to me. He said 'if I hurt you ma'am, I'm sorry.'"
Kenley said she slept soundly for the first time that night. On Tuesday evening, as she left her horses, she hoped for a more peaceful future at Lazy B Stables.
"I'd like to see him get some help, but I'd also like him kept behind bars when he's getting help. I don't want him out. I don't want to have to worry about him coming out to my place."
According to the 15th Judicial Circuit Solicitor's Office, Vereen could spend five years in prison if convicted of buggery.
On Tuesday in court, Vereen pleaded guilty to the trespassing charge and was fined $250. As for the buggery charge, the judge set his bail at $10,000.
Re: man jailed AGAIN for having $%^ with a horse!!!
AND people have the nerve to talk about West Virginia.
It sounds like the talk should be elsewhere. And for the poor horse to get an infection(s). Now that is bad.
