Father-in-law loses contact with Rodhouse’s wife and grandchildren – Muddy River News

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

PITTSFIELD, Ill. — The father of Austin Rodhouse’s wife described his frustration at not being able to help his daughter and grandchildren, whom they feared for their safety as Rodhouse traveled the country like gypsies looking for work.

He had driven from Ohio to Pleasant Hill with his wife and oldest daughter in late January to see his youngest daughter, identified in court documents as “CC.” However, only their daughters were given the chance to speak. Father “AC” did not hear from his youngest daughter for another 3.5 months.

She bowed her head, looked up and composed her words Wednesday afternoon when eight women in Pike County Circuit Court told a four-person jury about a May 10 phone call from Jordan Gerard, a special agent with the Illinois State Police. through tears.

“I was leaving a job site and (Gerard) called me to let me know that (CC) was at Blessing Hospital,” he said. “He came out of emergency surgery and is in good condition. I called my wife, we loaded up that evening and hit the road the next morning. We went to the hospital immediately.”

Rodhouse, who turns 31 next week, is charged with 19 domestic violence and sex-related offences.

• A Class 2 aggravated domestic violence crime with a sentence range of 3 to 7 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
• 1st criminal sexual assault involving force, a Class 1 felony punishable by four to 15 years.
• 4 counts of predatory criminal sexual assault on a child, a Class X felony punishable by six to 60 years in prison.
• Three counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, a Class X felony punishable by six to 30 years in prison.
• 2 counts of child pornography, a Class X felony with a sentence ranging from six to 30 years.
• 3 counts of indecent harassment of an adult, a Class 2 felony punishable by three to seven years in prison.
• Three counts of aggravated battery on a child, a Class 3 felony punishable by two to five years in prison.

Testimony at the hearing before Judge Charles H. W. Burch is expected to continue at 9 a.m. Thursday morning. Rodhouse, a Pleasant Hill native, has denied all charges.

‘We never got a clear image of (CC)’

AC looked at his son-in-law as he entered the courtroom. Later, under questioning from Pike County State’s Attorney Walker Filbert, she testified about how her daughter, then 22, met Rodhouse in 2018 while he was working on a pipeline in Wooster, Ohio. While Rodhouse looked for work, the couple moved to Parkersburg, W.Va., Chico, Calif., Colorado Springs, Colo., Lake Norman, N.C., and Daytona Beach, Florida, before settling in Pleasant Hill.

He said opportunities to meet with CC were quickly becoming limited. When he reached his daughter via Facetime, she usually gave the iPad to her children.

“We never got a clear image of (CC),” AC said. “When (the Rodhouses’ oldest son) was on his iPad with us, he would go into the bedroom and crawl into a closet. It was going to be really dark. He couldn’t see. I asked him ‘Where are you?’ I asked. And he said, ‘In my secret place. “I’m in my hiding place.”

AC also said Rodhouse brought his family to Ohio for Christmas in 2022 and his oldest son said something inappropriate.

“Austin came into the room and punched him in the face,” AC said.

On July 9, 2023, he received a text from CC stating that he thought he was going to prison. He learned that CC had gotten into a verbal argument with Rodhouse and scratched his neck, and Rodhouse had called the Pike County Sheriff’s Department alleging domestic violence.

“The text message we received, and many of the text messages from then on, were not necessarily from (CC),” AC said. “The words and content of the text were not from (CC).

“I told him things weren’t good and we needed to find a way to get you to safety. ‘No, it’s all my fault,’ he said. Everything is my fault. ‘I’m the reason things are bad.’ ‘Not good,’ I said. We need to fix something. ‘We have to get you out of here.’ And he hung up the phone.

AC then had a conversation with Rodhouse that quickly escalated.

“From July 9 onwards, things got worse,” he said. “Our communication with (CC) has largely been cut off. We had no contact. We didn’t know if he was safe, we didn’t know if he was alive. … I called (CC) because I couldn’t reach him. I told him that if he hurt (CC) or the kids, he couldn’t run far enough or fast enough, we would find him.

“He told me if I came to Illinois he would break my legs.”

Two days later, he was served with a protection order from CC and his sons.

Parents failed to contact CC in January

CC spoke to her mother on FaceTime in January, stating that her mother was “living in fear.” AC, his wife and oldest daughter arrived in Pike County and called Pike County Sheriff David Greenwood in advance. He waited in the parking lot of a church in Pleasant Hill to see when it would be appropriate to see his daughter, but received word that she did not want to see her family.

During cross-examination by defense attorney Casey Schnack, AC said he and his wife have been foster parents to their grandchild since July 25. CC currently lives with her sister and is in daily contact with their son, with at least one of their parents supervising.

“Do you let her bathe the boys?” Schnack asked.

“Usually it’s me or my partner,” AC replied.

“Has (CC) been allowed to bathe the boys since they were placed in your care?” Schnack asked.

Pain said no.

Woman who lives with couple says Rodhouse spoke ‘very violently’ about her husband

A woman who lived with the Rodhouses briefly in the summer of 2023 testified about her relationship with Austin. The woman, referred to here as JaneDoe6, began working for the tree service, and CC was introduced to her at a July 4th party as the boys’ mother, not his wife.

When Assistant State’s Attorney Leecia Carnes asked what attracted her to Rodhouse, JaneDoe6 said: “His words. How he expresses everything. “He could make you feel really good when you were in a terrible situation.”

He said Rodhouse spoke “very violently” about his wife.

“Nothing that came out of his mouth about (CC) was nice,” JaneDoe6 said. “(Rodhouse said) he was crazy, he had a lot of mental issues, abuse issues supposedly from his father, a lot of trauma and things he couldn’t figure out. … He said he hated it.”

He remembered going to his sister’s house one night and Rodhouse showing up.

“It was there, but there was no head space,” JaneDoe6 said. “He said (CC) had two minutes to kill himself and if she didn’t he would do it for her.”

He claimed Rodhouse told him CC had used an app to create fake messages to her father.

JaneDoe6 finally asked her father to bring her back to Illinois

Eventually, the Rodhouses set off for West Virginia that summer, and JaneDoe6 got into Rodhouse’s truck. He said he didn’t say a word about Pleasant Hill until they reached their destination.

JaneDoe6 said Rodhouse choked her while they were having sex on at least two occasions. JaneDoe6 claimed that while having sex with Rodhouse one night in West Virginia, she saw CC come into the room to check on her because she couldn’t hear him.

“(Rodhouse) jumped up when he saw (CC),” JaneDoe6 said. “(CC) was heading towards the bathroom and put his arm between the door and the bathroom wall. “He put all his weight on the door and injured his hand.”

This led JaneDoe6 to reach out to her father and ask him to bring her home. He said he tried to get CC to come with him.

“Austin told me he would kill (CC) if I left,” she said.

During cross-examination of Schnack, JaneDoe6 said Rodhouse showed her a jewelry box where he kept the SD card containing the video of CC and her son in the bathtub. He also said he only spent about a week in West Virginia before calling his father. Rodhouse took him to a hotel.

“You were picked up and left West Virginia and came back to (Illinois),” Schnack said. “And all it took was a few phone calls.”

JaneDoe6 answered yes.