‘That is not who she is’: Assistant state’s attorney confirms she won’t charge Rodhouse’s wife with abuse crimes

QUINCY — Pike County Assistant State’s Attorney Leecia Carnes said after an eight-woman, four-man jury found Austin Rodhouse guilty of 19 felony charges in November that she likely would not charge his wife with abuse crimes — but she left it as a possibility.

“Having seen what she’s been put through all these years — like, you guys only saw a tad bit,” Carnes said after the verdict. “It’s horrendous. She’s lived in prison already.”

She said after Rodhouse’s sentencing on Wednesday that her stance on not prosecuting Rodhouse’s wife, referred to in court documents as “CC,” still stands.

“I will flat out honestly say I had not decided (about charging CC) before the trial because it was always a possibility,” Carnes said. “As the trial went on, I really started to think about what my evidence would be if I charged her. You never charge someone on a confession. You have to have evidence to back it up. Some of her admissions were nothing but a confession, and (law enforcement) never found anything.”

Rodhouse received four life sentences from Judge Charles H.W. Burch as well as 187 years worth of other criminal felony sentences that will be served concurrently with the life sentences.

Carnes said she sent a May 22, 2024, letter to John Coonrod, CC’s attorney, stating any information that CC shared with law enforcement or Department of Child and Family Services employees regarding abuse against her two minor children would not be used against her for any criminal prosecution, as long as the information was truthful.

She said she knew about the sex acts that occurred on May 1 and 2 between CC and her oldest son, then age 4. However, Carnes believes such charges would likely garner a defense of duress. Duress has been defined in several cases in Illinois law as “including the imposition, oppression, undue influence or the taking of undue advantage of the stress of another whereby one is deprived of the exercise of (a person’s) free will.”

“There were the things she told us after I had given her the letter saying that anything (she said) to me at this point, I’m not going to charge you with those,” Carnes said. “I had no idea what I was agreeing to when I gave (her) that letter. I did know about what had happened in early May, and I knew there was stuff on her phone. I knew if I wanted to charge her, no matter what, I had something to charge. 

“As we’re going through the trial, the only thing I legitimately could charge was the stuff from May 1, and there is a legal defense of duress. I have come to the conclusion … it was very hard at first. (CC) never would have done any of this if it wasn’t for (Rodhouse). That is not who she is.”

Carnes said many people don’t know they’re being abused or they’re confused by the abuse.

“You know you’re abused when I hit you, but maybe you don’t know you’re abused when I say certain things to you and then later tell you, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry,’ and I charm you again,” she said. “When you live in a world of confusion, mental abuse doesn’t necessarily seem like abuse. It’s catastrophic, and it literally changes what’s going on in your brain. It changes the person.”

Casey Schnack, Rodhouse’s attorney, said after the sentencing that CC should be held accountable for her actions.

“When you listen to her victim impact statement, it was all blaming Austin,” she said. “She knew what she did was wrong. I think this is something that she should have to explain if she wants to get a job in the future, wants to work with kids or wants to work in a sensitive setting. There was no evidence presented at trial or today that she was not in her right mind when all of this happened.”

Schnack said Rodhouse was easy to deal with during the trial.

“Very respectful. Let me do my job,” she said. “He asked good questions, so he was not a difficult client to deal with at all. Very pleasant to deal with, actually.

“He was appropriately concerned and asking the right questions (on Wednesday). He completely understood and accepted the fact that the judge’s hands were completely tied with the mandatory sentencing guidelines. He has completely surrendered himself to the appeals process. Today was really in his mind more of a formality than anything. He knew he was going to prison.”

Carnes said she’s glad this stage of the Rodhouse case is finished.

“I’ve still got other stages to deal with,” she said. “With all the dynamics that have gone on, there’s been a lot of drama and a lot of people being hurt by other people. There are just so many people victimized, so I know that aspect of it is probably going to play out and continue to play out. I’ve grown to care about these people.”

Carnes also complimented Schnack, as well as the people who helped get a conviction.

“I’m actually relieved, because honestly, Casey taking this case is one of the best things that happened for all of us,” she said. “She can get a case to trial quickly and not drag it out and still do a good job. Honestly, I respect her for that a lot, because most defense attorneys in the private practice cannot handle a case like this. It is very hard to handle a case that has this much. She did it pretty much by herself and with her office staff.

“I did it with the entirety of the Illinois State Police, the Pike County Sheriff’s Department, my office, DCFS. When I say (Illinois State Police), I had multiple just zones from Springfield helping me. We had the lab in Springfield helping us with stuff. I had an army. There’s no way if it was just me and a few people that I could have gotten a trial completed. I probably would have had to go to trial without a few counts. If it wasn’t for all those people, it wouldn’t have happened.”