WFDL news has learned a Green Bay man charged in Brown County with molesting a horse was convicted several years ago of abusing horses in Fond du lac County. Fifty three year old Sterling Rochwal is charged in Brown County with mistreatment of animals and disorderly conduct and charges are pending in Manitowac County. Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s chief deputy Mark Strand tells WFDL news in November of 2008, Rachwal entered a barn at a Hickory Road farm to molest a horse. He was arrested two years later and was eventually convicted of disorderly conduct and sentenced to 180 days in jail. Rochwal was convicted in Monroe County in 1993 for mistreatment of animals and sexual gratification with an animal. Four years later he was found not guilty due to mental illness or defect. “First of all, this individual is not wired right,” Strand told WFDL news. But Strand also says he believe Rochwal knows right from wrong. “When somebody is confronted and knows what he’s doing is wrong and tries to evade, and then of course he says he didn’t do any of it, its what they call a functioning mind. He knows the difference between right and wrong.” Strand says the Rochwal case also shows that the law against this offense needs to be strengthened. Strand says he is concerned that horse owners are ready to take the law into their own hands.
