Rodell Vereen and Sugar

Rodell Vereen, 50, of Longs, S.C. was having an affair with a 21-year-old, named Sugar. He would only come looking for her at night when no one else was around. He had to be very careful because he had been caught once before and got into a lot of trouble. However, he was confident that his lover would never tell on him, it was the other woman, Barbara Kenley, that he had to watch out for. The reason Rodell had to be so careful was that Barbara owned Sugar. Sugar was her horse and she certainly did not approve of the relationship.

What Rodell did not know was that Barbara suspected something was going on. She had noticed several weeks ago that Sugar was acting strange and getting infections again. She noticed things in the barn had been moved around; dirt had been piled up and bales of hay stacked near the horse's stall at her Lazy B Stables. Barbara suspected Rodell had returned to visit her horse, but she had no proof.

It was on Thanksgiving Day 2007 that Barbara had found him asleep in the hay by her horse, who had been locked in her stall. A mound of dirt and a stool were behind her. Rodell Vereen was arrested and charged with buggery. On July 21, 2008 he pleaded guilty.

He was sentenced to three years of probation, ordered to undergo mental health counseling, placed on the state’s sex offender list and told not to go near Lazy B Stables.

Barbara spent several nights at the stables, which are about four miles from her home, but didn’t find anything. So she installed surveillance cameras, and when she reviewed the footage from July 19, she couldn’t believe she was seeing the same man doing the same thing to her horse.

“Police kept telling me it couldn’t be the same guy,” Kenley said. “I couldn’t believe that there were two guys going around doing this to the same horse.”

Barbara now had her proof. She told officers she had video of Rodell 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." She wanted to make sure he was arrested. So she staked out the barn.

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.''

When the police arrived, Vereen admitted to them that he did have "relations'' with a horse on July 19. He was charged with buggery, trespassing and probation violation. He is being held on $30,000 bail.

"That stable was my getaway, my stress relief,'' said Kenley, who has owned 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.''

"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.''

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. "He's not a violent man, I know.''

Vereen has had mental problems for several years, but seemed to get better after getting court-ordered treatment last year, said his brother, the Rev. James Vereen, who lives just down the street from his brother and the stables.

"He's done all right when he was on the medicine. I don't know if he is still taking it," said James Vereen, who added his brother has kept to himself a lot in the last few months.

Vereen will have a probation hearing at 9 a.m. 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 will likely determine if 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.''

 "In 20 years I've never had a problem like this,'' Kenley said. "I never knew people did such a thing.''

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