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An elderly man convicted of having sex with cows in a Westmoreland County pasture received a suspended sentence yesterday and was ordered to get counseling.
S.A. Balderson, 81, of Richmond County had previously been convicted of the felony charge of bestiality. He got a two-year suspended sentence yesterday and was placed on probation.
Westmoreland Commonwealth's Attorney Peggy Garland had previously presented a videotape showing Balderson being intimate with two cows in a pasture in Nomini Grove off State Route 3 on Sept. 5 of last year.
Westmoreland detective Merile Jones had gone to the field that morning after the Sheriff's Office received a complaint about Balderson's activities there. Balderson's home in Richmond County is less than a mile away.
With Jones' tape running, Balderson showed up wearing only a T-shirt, tennis shoes and sunglasses. He was filmed going from cow to cow.
It was the first time police had set up surveillance, but they said Balderson had been to the field many times before.
Police said the property owner knows Balderson, but had not given him permission to be there or to be with the cows.
Garland said finding an appropriate punishment for Balderson was difficult.
"What do you do with an 80-something-year-old man who would do something like this?" she said.