Man accused of sex with horse pleads guilty

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Rodell Vereen (Source: J. Reuben Long Detention Center)

LONGS, SC (WMBF) - The Longs man accused of having sex with a horse for a second time pleaded guilty in court Wednesday to buggery and received a five-year suspended sentence.

Rodell Vereen, 50, was charged with buggery in July and ordered to undergo a mental evaluation. He was determined competent to stand trial and appeared before Judge Larry Hyman at 9 a.m. Wednesday and pleaded guilty.

Hyman suspended Vereen's five-year sentence to three years in jail and two years probation. He further recommended Vereen to get mental health help while on probation.

When Vereen was charged with buggery in July, he was already on probation for a previous buggery charge involving the same horse. That first buggery charge resulted in a three-year jail sentence for Vereen, but that sentence was suspended to probation for Vereen.

The second buggery charge violated Vereen's probation, so Hyman revoked the probation and re-instated the three-year jail sentence. Hyman decided to let the two three-year jail sentences run at the same time. That means Vereen will is expected to spend only three years in jail and then two years on probation.

Barbara Kenley said she caught Vereen having sex with her horse called "Sugar."

He was charged in July after Kenley called law enforcement officers to Lazy B Stables. Kenley said she caught Vereen in the act after she installed surveillance cameras in her barn.

During the plea hearing Wednesday, Kenley addressed the judge to explain the disruption Vereen had caused in her life. She said people took away horse she was boarding at her barn, and she no longer felt safe there.

"I was not able to go to my barn with any piece of mind," Kenley told Judge Hyman.

According to a police report, Kenley caught Vereen at the stable in July and held him at shotgun-point until police arrived.

In an interview with WMBF News, Vereen said he had been struggling with schizophrenia and had not been taking his medication.

"I'm very sorry for letting [my family] down like that, and for doing things like that," said Rodell Vereen earlier this year. "We weren't brought up doing that. I was wrong for doing the things like that, but I'll try my very best to admit to my wrongdoings. I hope they accept me for who I am and the things I've done in the past. I've tried my very best to better."

Vereen also apologized to the owner of the horse, and he repeated that apology while in court Wednesday morning.