State details verbal assault of ex-wife by Pleasant Hill man who pleads not guilty to 48 felonies

PITTSFIELD, Ill. — A Pleasant Hill man charged with 48 domestic violence and sex-related offenses was arraigned Tuesday morning, and his request for pretrial release was denied.

Austin L. Rodhouse, 30, appeared in Pike County Circuit Court with his attorney Drew Schnack before Circuit Judge Frank McCartney and pled not guilty to each charge. 

Schnack filled in Tuesday for his daughter, Casey Schnack, who entered an appearance for Rodhouse on Sept. 11 after Michael Hankins withdrew as his attorney on Sept. 5. Schnack asked for 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 an ankle monitor.

“(Rodhouse has) significant ties in (Pleasant Hill) and no prior criminal record,” Schnack said. “Put him on a monitor, and it’ll go off within 30 seconds of him leaving his home.”

Assistant State’s Attorney Leecia Carnes noted pretrial release had been denied twice — on May 28 and June 18 — by McCartney, but Rodhouse had been admonished on just two counts.

“A significant difference that has occurred since then is that we filed an additional 46 counts for a total of 48,” she said. “Although the three victims listed in the charges are no longer in this state, there is still a significant safety risk to them. 

“The defendant knows exactly where the two boys are living, where that house is located. He’s been to it numerous times. I’m sure if he wants to, he will find his ex-wife easily, try to reach out to her online. The mental harm … would be significantly emotionally traumatizing to her because of having to live every day, not knowing if he’s going to abide by whatever conditions this court gives him.”

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

“I don’t believe there are any reasonable grounds or conditions this court could give that we would be able to trust the defendant to comply with,” she said.

Since that original detention hearing, Carnes said numerous pieces of evidence have been uncovered, including other victims. She had filed a motion asking to prevent Rodhouse or any family members from contacting the victims, explaining several of them live in Pike County (Ill.), Pike County (Mo.) or Adams County.

“All of them have conveyed to law enforcement and to me that they are … scared of the defendant,” Carnes said.

Carnes said Illinois State Police forensic investigators have recovered multiple conversations between Rodhouse and his ex-wife. 

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

Carnes read a statement made on Snapchat at 1:52 a.m. May 4 in which Rodhouse called his ex-wife a “horrible partner” because she doesn’t do “weights, have sex, Kegels, tren (Trenbolone acetate is a synthetic anabolic steroid) and twerking — all the only things I’ve asked of you.” 

“If you can’t do what I ask and show me what I want is important to you, then you can go (expletive deleted) yourself and realize every single day and night, 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’re nothing but a (expletive deleted) toy to relieve this stress. … You will be used and abused daily … and nothing more. … I’m going to watch you hate life, hate yourself and suffer every (expletive deleted) day.”

Later that same morning, Rodhouse continued his verbal assault.

“I’m officially done with (her) bull (expletive deleted). I’ll beat the ego and hard-headed out of you,” he wrote. “From now on, I’m taking all your independence. You don’t get to live like this without obeying.”

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

“Which is exactly what she did at that point,” Carnes said. “He then kicked her in the abdomen with the boots he was wearing, which led to her ruptured spleen.”

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

“Then at the end of the long message, (Rodhouse) tells them his expectations going forward,” Carnes read. “He tells them, ‘If and when I ever call it quits and leave you both, (the ex-wife) will find your peace eight feet under. (The other woman) has a family she may go home to.”

McCartney called the allegations some of the most serious he’s ever heard, calling them “disturbing,” as he denied pretrial release.

Pike County State’s Attorney Walker Filbert told McCartney that because of two waivers of preliminary hearings and the withdrawal of two attorneys for Rodhouse, only 12 days have “clicked off” Rodhouse’s speedy trial rights.

However, Schnack asked for the case to be placed on the October jury docket before Judge Charles Burch. A pre-trial hearing was set for Oct. 4.

Schnack and Carnes briefly debated how Rodhouse would be given time to review the voluminous discovery in the case. Carnes said no motion has been made for McCartney to address whether Rodhouse was entitled to have access to that information in the Pike County Jail.

“I think that’s a great motion,” Schnack sarcastically said. “We won’t give him any police reports at all, and then we’ll have a trial. He won’t be informed literally of anything, and we can all come back and be done with him.”

McCartney suggested that when Schnack or his daughter visits the jail, the bailiffs could make Rodhouse available as long as needed.

“Well, there’s thousands of pages here,” Schnack said. “I’m not going to sit here, and my daughter isn’t, and waste valuable time while he reads a bunch of trash.”

McCartney eventually convinced Schnack to make a motion to give Rodhouse access, and he convinced Carnes to redact any information she didn’t want Rodhouse to read.

The Illinois State Police Division of Criminal Investigation initiated an investigation May 8 after being notified that a victim was at a local hospital. Rodhouse initially was arrested for aggravated domestic battery, and ISP conducted a follow-up investigation which led to additional charges.  

The Pike County State’s Attorney’s Office has charged Rodhouse with:

• 10 counts of aggravated domestic battery, a Class 2 felony with a sentencing range of between three and seven years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Rodhouse is charged with tattooing several words on the body of a female victim, such as “Owned by Rodhouse” on the neck, “Austin” on the forehead and others near sexual organs. He also is charged with using a vice to break a female victim’s finger.
• 2 counts of criminal sexual assault involving force, a Class 1 felony with a sentencing range of between four and 15 years in prison. If found guilty of these felonies, Rodhouse would have to serve 85 percent of his sentence.
• 2 counts of delivery of a controlled substance (Adderall), a Class 2 felony with a sentencing range of three and seven years in prison.
• 5 counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, a Class X felony with a sentencing range of six to 60 years. If found guilty of these felonies, Rodhouse would have to serve 85 percent of his sentence.
• 4 counts of criminal sexual abuse involving force, a Class 4 felony with a sentencing range of one to three years in prison.
• 3 counts of involuntary sexual servitude of a minor (causing a minor to engage in the production of pornography), a Class X felony with a sentencing range of six to 30 years.
• 4 counts of domestic battery, a Class A misdemeanor punishable for up to a year in jail.
• 4 counts of indecent solicitation of an adult, a Class 2 felony with a sentencing range of three to seven years in prison.
• 3 counts of child pornography, a Class X felony with a sentencing range of six to 30 years in prison. If found guilty of these felonies, Rodhouse would have his sentences consecutively (when one is complete, a second sentence would start).
• 4 counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, a Class X felony with a sentencing range of six to 30 years in prison. One of these charges is assault with a weapon. If found guilty of that felony, 15 years would be added to his sentence.
• 3 counts of aggravated battery to a child, a Class 3 felony with a sentencing range of two to five years in prison.
• 1 count of involuntary servitude, a Class X felony with a sentencing range of six to 30 years in prison.
• 2 counts of involuntary servitude, a Class 4 felony with a sentencing range of one to three years in prison.
• 1 count of aggravated battery/great bodily harm, a Class 1 felony with a sentencing range of four to 15 years.