State describes verbal attack on ex-wife by Pleasant Hill man who pleads not guilty to 48 counts – Muddy River News

PITTSFIELD, Illinois – A Pleasant Hill man accused of 48 counts of domestic violence and sex offenses was arraigned Tuesday morning, but his request for pretrial release was denied.

Austin L. Rodhouse, 30, appeared with his attorney Drew Schnack in Pike County District Court before District Judge Frank McCartney and pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Schnack on Tuesday represented his daughter, Casey Schnack, who appeared for Rodhouse on Sept. 11 after Michael Hankins withdrew his attorney’s mandate on Sept. 5. Schnack requested pretrial release, explaining that Rodhouse’s wife and children have been relocated more than 600 miles from Pike County. He said Rodhouse could be under house arrest or in an ankle bracelet.

“(Rodhouse has) significant connections in (Pleasant Hill) and no criminal record,” Schnack said. “If you put him on a monitor, it will go off within 30 seconds of him leaving his house.”

Assistant District Attorney Leecia Carnes noted that McCartney had twice refused pre-trial release – on May 28 and June 18 – but Rodhouse had only been warned on two occasions.

“One significant difference that has occurred since then is that we have filed an additional 46 charges, bringing our total to 48,” she said. “Although the three victims named in the indictment are no longer in this state, they still pose a significant safety risk.”

“The defendant knows exactly where the two boys live and where the house is located. He has been there many times. I am sure that if he wants to, he will easily find his ex-wife and try to reach her online. The psychological damage … would be a significant emotional trauma for her because she has to live every day not knowing whether he will comply with the conditions imposed on him by this court.”

Carnes said a warrant or GPS monitoring is “only as trustworthy as the defendant is trustworthy.”

“I don’t think there are any reasonable reasons or conditions that this court could cite that we could expect the defendant to comply with,” she said.

Since that first detention, Carnes said numerous pieces of evidence have been uncovered, including additional victims. She filed a motion to prevent Rodhouse or family members from contacting the victims, stating that several of them live in Pike County, Illinois, Pike County, Missouri, or Adams County.

“Everyone has communicated to law enforcement and to me that they are … afraid of the defendant,” Carnes said.

Carnes said Illinois State Police forensic investigators secured several conversations between Rodhouse and his ex-wife.

“If nothing else proves the danger this man poses to his ex-wife, then I would pray that you consider his own words,” Carnes said.

Carnes read a statement posted on Snapchat at 1:52 a.m. on May 4 in which Rodhouse called his ex-wife a “terrible partner” because she “doesn’t lift weights, doesn’t have sex, doesn’t do Kegel exercises, doesn’t do Tren (Trenbolone Acetate is a synthetic anabolic steroid) and doesn’t twerk – all the only things I asked you to do.”

“If you can’t do what I ask and show me that you care about what I want, then you can go yourself and realize every day and every night that the man you sleep next to doesn’t love you, despises you, finds you repulsive as a partner and disgusting in every way,” Rodhouse wrote. “You are nothing more than a (expletive deleted) toy to relieve that stress. … You are used and abused daily … and nothing else. … I will watch you hate life, hate yourself and suffer every (expletive deleted) day.”

Later that same morning, Rodhouse continued his verbal attack.

“I am officially done with (her) bullshit. I will take away your ego and stubbornness,” he wrote. “From now on, I will take away all your independence. You cannot live like this without obeying.”

Shortly thereafter, Rodhouse told his ex-wife to make breakfast. He then told her: “Make yourself a bowl of dog food. You’re going to eat it off the floor like an obedient (expletive deleted).”

“And that’s exactly what she did,” Carnes said. “Then he kicked her in the stomach with the boots he was wearing, which ruptured her spleen.”

Carnes then told McCartney about another woman who entered the relationship between Rodhouse and his ex-wife. In a message to both women, Rodhouse said they would be his “sister wives.” He wrote to the other woman that if she had listened to him from the beginning and done what he told her, “you very well could have been the only one in that house and helped me hide her body,” he wrote.

“At the end of the long message, (Rodhouse) then tells them what he wants from them going forward,” Carnes read. “He tells them, ‘If and when I ever break up and leave you both, (the ex-wife) will find peace eight feet under. (The other woman) has a family she can maybe go home to.'”

McCartney described the allegations as the most serious he had ever heard and called them “disturbing” while opposing release before trial.

Pike County District Attorney Walker Filbert told McCartney that Rodhouse’s right to a speedy trial was forfeited after 12 days due to two preliminary hearing waivers and the withdrawal of two of his attorneys.

However, Schnack requested that the case be placed on the October jury agenda before Judge Charles Burch. A pretrial hearing was scheduled for October 4.

Schnack and Carnes briefly discussed giving Rodhouse time to review the extensive evidence in the case. Carnes said no request was made for McCartney to comment on whether Rodhouse should have access to that information in the Pike County Jail.

“I think that’s a great proposal,” Schnack said sarcastically. “We’re not going to give him any police reports at all and then there’ll be a trial. He’ll literally be informed of nothing and we can all come back and be done with him.”

McCartney suggested that bailiffs could make Rodhouse available for the duration of Schnack or his daughter’s prison visit.

“That’s thousands of pages,” Schnack said. “I’m not going to sit here, and neither is my daughter, wasting valuable time reading a bunch of nonsense.”

McCartney eventually convinced Schnack to file a request for access for Rodhouse, and he convinced Carnes to redact any information that Rodhouse should not read.

The Illinois State Bureau of Criminal Investigation opened an investigation on May 8 after being notified that a victim was at a local hospital. Rodhouse was initially arrested on aggravated domestic violence charges, and the ISP opened a follow-up investigation that resulted in additional charges.

The Pike County District Attorney’s Office charged Rodhouse with:

• 10 counts of aggravated domestic violence, a Class 2 felony with a sentence of between three and seven years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Rodhouse is accused of tattooing several words on a female victim’s body, including “Owned by Rodhouse” on the neck, “Austin” on the forehead, and others near the genitals. He is also accused of using a vise to break a female victim’s finger.
• 2 counts of sexual assault with use of force, a Class 1 felony with a sentence of four to 15 years in prison. If found guilty of these crimes, Rodhouse would have to serve 85 percent of his sentence.
• 2 counts of delivery of a controlled substance (Adderall), a Class 2 felony carrying a sentence of three to seven years in prison.
• 5 counts of sexual abuse of a child, a Class X felony carrying a sentence of six to 60 years. If found guilty of these crimes, Rodhouse would have to serve 85 percent of his sentence.
• 4 counts of sexual abuse using force, a Class 4 felony punishable by one to three years in prison.
• 3 counts of involuntary sexual servitude of a minor (causing a minor to produce pornographic material), a Class X felony carrying a sentence of six to 30 years.
• 4 counts of domestic violence, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison.
• 4 counts of indecent sexual assault of an adult, a Class 2 felony punishable by three to seven years in prison.
• 3 counts of child pornography, a Class X felony with a penalty of six to 30 years in prison. If found guilty of these crimes, Rodhouse will receive his sentences consecutively (when one sentence is served, a second begins).
• 4 counts of aggravated sexual assault, a Class X felony with a sentence of six to 30 years in prison. One of those counts is assault with a weapon. If found guilty of that crime, his sentence will be increased by 15 years.
• Three counts of aggravated assault on a child, a Class 3 felony punishable by two to five years in prison.
• 1 count of forced labor, a Class X felony punishable by six to 30 years in prison.
• 2 counts of forced labor, a Class 4 felony punishable by one to three years in prison.
• 1 count of aggravated assault/aggravated battery, a Class 1 felony carrying a sentence of four to 15 years.