South Carolina Man Jailed for Having Sex with a Horse

Here’s a 2-part story that took place in South Carolina. The first half, which took place 3 months ago is funny. The second part, which took place on Wednesday, is pretty sad.

About 3 months ago Rodell Vereen was caught having sex with a horse named Sugar. It was the second time he had gotten caught having sex with the same horse.

Why did he risk going to Sugar’s stable the second time around? I mean, there are thousands of horse breeds in South Carolina: Argetinian Criollos, Balluchis, Quarabs, Russian Dons, Kabardas, Ponys and even American Cream Drafts.

But no. Rodell Vereen had to go back to Sugar. No other horse could make him feel the same way, I guess.

Well, the horse’s owner, Barbara Kenley, installed video cameras around her barn and then recorded Vereen right as he was, well, “burggering” Sugar.

The lover (or rapist, whatever you want to call him) couldn’t escape. Kenley held him at gun point.

Rodell Vereen, not exactly an animal rights activist, pleaded guilty.

Now here’s the sad part. It was later found out that Vereen had mental problems and he hadn’t been taking his medication for a long time. This didn’t really matter to the judges as they sentenced him  to 5 years in jail.

He can get out after 3 years if he behaves correctly–which must be difficult for somebody who is mentally ill–and then serve 2 years on probation. Of course, he also has to stay away from Sugar and seek psychiatric help upon being freed from jail.

Doing research for this article, I found a poll at New York Daily News’s website. The poll asks people if they think Vereen should have gotten more time in jail. To my surprise 44% of people said he should have received a harsher sentence. Only 41% of people said he should have received a lighter sentence. The remaining 15% did not know.

Either people were unaware of Vereen’s mental problems and of how incredibly crowded our jails are, or they really think that a mentally ill individual should be punished with 5 years in jail for having sex with a horse.