A Spring Valley man who engaged in oral sex with horses was ordered to stay away from all livestock -- and from the entire community of Lakeside -- for three years under an unusual probation sentence handed down yesterday.

Paul Millhouse, 49, also was ordered to undergo therapy and to pay $300 in fines and restitution. Throughout most of yesterday's 90-minute hearing, he sat at a defense table with his left hand shielding his face from the more than three dozen Lakeside ranchers and residents in attendance.

Several of them -- including San Diego Zoo spokeswoman Joan Embery -- told Municipal Court Judge Larrie Brainard that Millhouse had been sneaking into their corrals late at night for years and bothering their animals. Embery told the judge that she saw Millhouse engaging in perverse behavior with one of her mares.

"I'm going to have to assume that you do not have control over your impulses," the judge told Millhouse. He ordered him to stay out of Lakeside, to stay at least 200 yards from any livestock. Asked if he would comply, Millhouse replied, "I guess I have no choice." The judge said his other choice was six months in jail.

Millhouse pleaded guilty May 13 to one misdemeanor charge of lewd conduct. Charges of trespassing and sexual assault were dismissed as part of the plea bargain.

His attorney, public defender Sujung Kim, criticized the probation conditions as excessive.

"He does not hurt the horses," she told the judge. "We think it's unreasonable that the court ask him to stay away from all animals." But several ranchers told of horses behaving strangely after what they
described as Millhouse's late-night trespassing.

One rancher, Sioux Munyon, told the judge she hired a private investigator, who videotaped one of the encounters. "The man needs help and should be kept away from any kind of livestock," she told the judge.

Afterward, she said she was pleased with the sentence but did not think Millhouse would abide by it. "The man is sick. He's not going to stop," she said.

Testifying in Millhouse's behalf were seven members of a Lakeside roping club for whom he performed volunteer work. They described Millhouse as a kind person who never harmed animals.

His elderly parents, Harry and Marie Millhouse, also testified. "I've never seen him be cruel to animals," his mother said tearfully. "He loves animals."

That remark drew snickers from some in the gallery. But prosecutor Wesley Schermann said Millhouse's "deviant" behavior is no laughing matter.

"It's not humorous. It's serious," he told the judge. "This individual cannot be around animals."