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from www.lansingstatejournal.com – Cindy Heistand suspected the man she and others saw on her horse pasture was doing more than feeding the horses.
Some of her customers – Heistand runs a boarding stable in Riley Township – had seen the man feeding them oats and corn from a bucket. But Heistand believed something else was happening.
So last fall, she bought a long-range video surveillance camera and set it up so it overlooked a section of the 15-acre pasture.
In mid-June, she said, it captured images that were shocking, disturbing, pornographic.
The man placed an overturned bucket behind one of the horses, a thoroughbred mare, stood on the bucket, flipped up a sheet covering the horse, and appeared to have sexual intercourse with the animal.
“The first time we saw the video, we were flabbergasted,” Heistand said. “Never in your weirdest mind would you suspect he was doing that.”
Clinton County prosecutors have charged 62-year-old John Robert Mester with one count of bestiality, a 15-year felony, as well as one count of aggravated indecent exposure.
His attorney, Robert Hackett, declined to comment on the case.
A preliminary hearing, which determines if Mester will stand trial, is set for July 21.
Mester, who is Heistand’s neighbor, was accused of a similar crime 10 years ago in Olive Township, court records show.
In 2001, Mester was accused of having sexual intercourse with a pony. He pleaded no contest to attempted animal torture, records show, and was sentenced to 30 days in jail and a year of probation.
Mester, who is married, was arraigned June 30 in Clinton County District Court on the new charges. He was released on a $5,000 bond, records show.
The aggravated indecent exposure charge carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail. Authorities say he could be seen in one of the videos fondling himself.
Clinton County Prosecutor Chuck Sherman, who has been the county’s prosecutor since the late-1980s, said he rarely sees cases of people having sex with animals, but it does happen.
“I can honestly say that this is the only time I’ve charged somebody with it for the second time,” Sherman said.
Heistand said she usually has 10 to 15 horses living at her facility. None have become sick, but it is a concern, she said.
Horse digestive systems are extremely sensitive, she said, and what they eat has to be regulated. If they are being fed additional grain, it could make them sick.
“That’s what makes me very upset and nervous,” Heistand said. “If any of the horses get sick, my boarders are going to be upset with me.”