Three women describe how they were sexually assaulted during third day of testimony at Rodhouse trial – Muddy River News

WARNING: This story contains descriptions of graphic violence and explicit sexual content that some readers may find profane, vulgar or offensive. Reader discretion is advised.

PITTSFIELD, Ill. – Much of the first two days of testimony in the Austin Rodhouse trial in Pike County Circuit Court revolved around his wife and their children, but the eight-woman, four-man jury heard testimony Thursday from three women who they claimed they were sexually abused by Rodhouse.

Rodhouse, who turns 31 next month, is being tried on 19 domestic violence and sex-related offences.

• 3 counts of aggravated domestic battery, a Class 2 felony with a sentence range of three to seven years according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.
• 1 count of Criminal Assault Involving Violence, a Class 1 Felony with a penalty range of four to 15 years in prison.
• Four counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, a Class
• 3 counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, a class
• 2 counts of child pornography, a class
• 3 counts of indecent solicitation of an adult, a class 2 felony with a penalty range of three to seven years in prison.
• 3 counts of aggravated battery on a child, a class 3 felony punishable by two to five years in prison.

Testimony in the trial before Judge Charles HW Burch is expected to resume at 9 a.m. Friday. Rodhouse, a Pleasant Hill native, has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

All of the women who testified Thursday were in their 20s.

The first woman, identified here as JaneDoe1, said she remembered seeing Rodhouse and his sister Autumn while visiting the home of Matt Rodhouse, Austin’s father, when she was six or seven years old. When Pike County State’s Attorney Walker Filbert asked if she remembered any sexual touching Rodhouse allegedly did, JaneDoe1 said he called it “Austin’s massages.”

She described the activity as Rodhouse “just rubbing private areas” on the outside of a woman’s clothing, “from top to bottom.” She could not remember how often Rodhouse gave his ‘massages’, nor could she remember if he had ever put his hands in her clothing.

JaneDoe1 recalled going to another of Matt Rodhouse’s houses in Summer Hill when she was about ten years old and watching Austin continue to perform his ‘massages’.

Under cross-examination by defense attorney Casey Schnack, JaneDoe1 said she could not remember when she first saw the massages or the room where the massages took place.

“But you come here to court and you absolutely know this all happened,” Schnack said.

“That’s right,” JaneDoe1 replied.

A second woman, identified here as JaneDoe2, said she went to Ohio in the summer of 2017 to stay at a campground with friends after ending a three-and-a-half-year relationship with another man. She met Rodhouse – who at 24 was seven years older – on the spot, and she had sex with him during their first or second meeting.

JaneDoe2 later learned that Rodhouse had another girlfriend at his campsite “he didn’t want me to know.”

On a second trip to Ohio, JaneDoe2 visited Rodhouse at his campsite, and the other girlfriend was there. He tried to convince the two women to have sex as a threesome, but JaneDoe2 refused.

“He kept talking about it all night… until it happened,” JaneDoe2 said.

She said she drank wine coolers and vodka for several hours before agreeing to the trio. After that night, Rodhouse said he wanted to have a relationship with both women — a “thrupple,” JaneDoe2 said. She didn’t agree, but she did agree to have consensual sex with him a few times.

Rodhouse tried to convince JaneDoe2 not to return to high school for her senior year, but she did. He drove to Pike County and met her at a local park on September 2, 2017, and took her to the Green Acres Hotel in Pittsfield, where some of Rodhouse’s relatives were. The family members left and JaneDoe2 said she wanted to shower before going to a local soccer match.

While she was in the bathroom, Rodhouse also came in and said he wanted to have sex. When JaneDoe2 said no, she said he picked her up and put her on the bathroom floor to have sex.

“Are you doing something like kissing or something romantic?” asked Assistant State’s Attorney Leecia Carnes.

“No, I was staring at the toilet to my left,” JaneDoe2 said.

Rodhouse and JaneDoe2 went to the football match. Afterwards, she said they were driving around in Rodhouse’s truck when he pulled his penis out of his pants and pushed her head onto his lap and demanded oral sex. She said her head was between his lap and the steering wheel and she was afraid she would destroy the vehicle if she tried to move.

“What have you decided to do?” Carnes asked.

“Do it,” said JaneDoe2.

She said the relationship ended after that weekend and they never saw each other again.

A third woman, identified here as JaneDoe3, said she met Rodhouse through an ex-boyfriend and about a year later through Facebook Messenger in December 2021. During their first meeting at McDonald’s in Quincy, she said Rodhouse gave her a ring.

“He told me he wasn’t going to keep me waiting,” JaneDoe3 said.

She said she continued to see Rodhouse occasionally for a few weeks after their first meeting. She said they would meet at her mother’s house. She said Rodhouse often wanted to talk about BDSM, described as a variety of often erotic practices or role-play involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission. Under questioning by Schnack, JaneDoe3 said Rodhouse described BDSM as his “love language.”

JaneDoe3 said she would change the subject if Rodhouse brought it up because “I had no interest or desire to do it.”

She said Rodhouse showed up at the house one day when she was in the basement and her mother and stepfather were upstairs.

“He didn’t even take the time to ask me how my day was,” she said.

Instead, she claims Rodhouse forced her to have sex on a couch. She said she couldn’t talk. She said they hadn’t even kissed before.

“Did he say anything?” Carnes said.

“No,” said JaneDoe3.

Carnes asked JaneDoe3 if she saw Rodhouse in the courtroom.

“I haven’t looked around,” she said.

“Would you be willing to take a look around?” Carnes asked.

“Should I look around?” said JaneDoe3.

Carnes said no.