‘If I came to Illinois, he would break my legs’: Father-in-law details decline in contact with Rodhouse’s wife, grandsons

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

PITTSFIELD, Ill. — The father of Austin Rodhouse’s wife explained the frustration of not being able to help his daughter and grandsons, fearing for their safety as they traveled around the country like gypsies as Rodhouse searched for work.

He had driven with his wife and oldest daughter from Ohio to Pleasant Hill in late January to see his youngest daughter, identified in court documents as “CC.” However, only his daughters were given a chance to talk. The father, “AC,” didn’t hear from his youngest daughter for another 3½ months.

When he told the eight-woman, four-man jury on Wednesday afternoon in Pike County Circuit Court about a May 10 phone call from Jordan Gerard, a special agent with the Illinois State Police, he dropped his head, looked up and mustered his words through tears.

“I was leaving a job site, and (Gerard) called me to inform me that (CC) was at Blessing Hospital,” he said. “She got out of emergency surgery, and she was OK. I called my wife, we loaded up that evening and left the next morning. We went directly to the hospital.”

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

• 3 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. 
• 1 count of criminal sexual assault involving force, a Class 1 felony with a sentencing range of between four and 15 years in prison.
• 4 counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, a Class X felony with a sentencing range of six to 60 years in prison.
• 3 counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, a Class X felony with a sentencing range of six to 30 years in prison.
• 2 counts of child pornography, a Class X felony with a sentencing range of six to 30 years in prison.
• 3 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 aggravated battery to a child, a Class 3 felony with a sentencing range of two to five years in prison.

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

‘We never got to see a clean shot of (CC)’

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

He said opportunities to meet with CC quickly became limited. When he would reach out to his daughter on Facetime, she typically handed the iPad to her boys.

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

AC also told about when Rodhouse brought his family to Ohio for Christmas in 2022 and the 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, who said she thought she was going to jail. He learned CC had a verbal altercation with Rodhouse and scratched his neck, and Rodhouse had called the Pike County Sheriff’s Department claiming domestic violence. 

“The text message that we got, and many of the text messages from that point forward, weren’t necessarily from (CC),” AC said. “The verbiage of the text, the content of the text was not from (CC).

“I told her things were not good, and we need to figure out a way to get you to safety. She said, ‘No, it’s all my fault. Everything’s my fault. I’m the reason why things are bad.’ I said, ‘It’s not good. We’ve got to get something taken care of. We’ve got to get you out of here.’ And she hung up.”

Later, AC had a conversation with Rodhouse that quickly got heated.

“Things deteriorated from July 9,” he said. “Our communication with (CC) was pretty much terminated. We had no contact. We didn’t know if she was safe, didn’t know if she was alive. … I called because I couldn’t get a hold of (CC). I told him that if he hurt (CC) or hurt the boys that he couldn’t run far enough and fast enough, that we’d find him.

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

Two days later, he was served an order of protection from CC and her boys.

Parents unsuccessfully tried to contact CC in January

CC spoke with her mother on FaceTime in January, indicating she was “living in fear.” AC, his wife and oldest daughter came to Pike County, calling Pike County Sheriff David Greenwood in advance. He waited in a church parking lot in Pleasant Hill to hear when it would be OK to see his daughter, only to get word she didn’t want to see her parents.

During cross-examination from defense attorney Casey Schnack, AC said he and his wife have been foster parents to their grandsons since July 25. CC now lives with her sister and has daily contact with her boys, with at least one of her parents supervising.

“Do you allow her to give the boys baths?” Schnack asked.

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

“Since the boys have come into your care, has (CC) been allowed to bathe the boys?” Schnack asked.

AC said no.

Woman who lived with couple said Rodhouse spoke ‘very violently’ about wife

A woman who lived with the Rodhouses briefly during the summer of 2023 testified about her relationship with Austin. The woman, referred to here as JaneDoe6, began working for his tree service, and CC was introduced to her at a July 4 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. The way he worded everything. He was able to make you feel really good when you were in a terrible place.”

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

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

She remembered going to her sister’s house one night and Rodhouse showed up.

“He was there, but his head space wasn’t,” JaneDoe6 said. “He said (CC) had two minutes to kill herself, and if she didn’t do it, he was going to do it for her.”

She claimed Rodhouse told her he had used an app to create fake messages to CC’s father.

JaneDoe6 eventually asked father to bring her back to Illinois

Eventually, the Rodhouses left that summer for West Virginia, and JaneDoe6 rode in Rodhouse’s truck. She said he didn’t utter a word from Pleasant Hill until they reached their destination. 

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

“When (Rodhouse) saw (CC), he jumped up,” JaneDoe6 said. “(CC) was heading into the bathroom, and she put her arm out between the door and the wall in the bathroom. He put all of his weight on the door and hurt her hand.”

That led JaneDoe6 to reach out to her father, asking him to bring her home. She said she tried to get CC to go with her.

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

During Schnack’s cross-examination, JaneDoe6 said Rodhouse had shown her a jewelry box where he kept the SD card containing the video of CC and her son in the bathtub. She also said she only stayed in West Virginia for about a week before calling her dad. Rodhouse took her to a hotel.

“You got picked up, and you left West Virginia and went back to (Illinois),” Schnack said. “And all it took was a couple of phone calls.”

JaneDoe6 replied yes.