Former Groom Gets Probation For Fondling Horse
ROLLING MEADOWS (STMW) -- A former groom who fondled a female racehorse at Arlington Park Racetrack avoided prison Wednesday when a Cook County judge placed him on probation and ordered him to undergo counseling.
Esbin Cal-Orozco, 29, had faced up to three years in prison after being convicted last month of having sexual contact with an animal.
"I believe this defendant is in dire need of counseling," Judge Thomas Fecarotta said as he sentenced Cal-Orozco to two years probation and ordered him into sex offender counseling.
Cal-Orzoco received credit for the nearly five months he has been jailed since his arrest last September for fondling the filly in her stall at the northwest suburban racetrack.
He was arrested after another track worker noticed the horse tied oddly in her stall, with several hay bales and buckets lined up behind her, authorities said. Cal-Orzoco admitted to police that he had improperly touched the horse.
The horse wasn't injured and has continued to race, authorities said.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
