Defense lawyer: Rouleau was the victim, not perpetrator in sex assault
Editor’s note: This news story contains information about alleged child sexual abuse. If you know or suspect that anyone under 18 is being sexually or physically abused, call the Texas child abuse hotline at 1-800-252-5400. To learn more about how to identify signs of child abuse or neglect, click here.
The attorney for Brittany Ann Rouleau, who is accused of sexually abusing a child, told jurors Wednesday Rouleau is the victim — not the assailant.
The 38-year-old Petrolia woman is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child in connection with an incident involving a young male relative.
Rouleau was being held Wednesday in Wichita County Jail on $1.3 million in bonds for Wichita County charges, according to jail and court records. She is also charged with murder in Clay County, and her bail on that charge is $600,000.
In an opening statement, court-appointed defense attorney Lee Ann Marsh told the nine men and three women on the jury the alleged victim actually committed the assault and that Rouleau was passed out at the time.
Wichita County Assistant District Attorney Chelsea Carlton told jurors in her opening statement that the Rouleau family had been a happy one until a traumatic event occurred. After that, she said it was no longer a safe place.
Testimony on Wednesday was marked with multiple objections from both sides and repeated conferences at 89th District Judge Charles Barnard's bench.
The alleged incident happened in Wichita Falls on Oct. 30, 2018, when the minor was 12 years old.
Anyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
The first witness was a Wichita Falls detective in the Crimes Against Children Unit who said the charge was based on an interview with the alleged victim and another witness rather than any forensic evidence.
Detective Robert Welch said he was not able to contact other witnesses he wanted to interview in the case.
Welch said the minor claimed in an interview at Patsy's House Children's Advocacy Center that Rouleau had forced him to move out of the household after the alleged sexual assault and threatened to “beat the crap” out of him if he told anyone about the incident.
Rouleau’s former neighbor, Brandy Winfrey, testified Rouleau had told her about a sexual incident with the minor after becoming distraught when the two were driving to the Food Bank for groceries. Winfrey said she first didn’t believe Rouleau’s story because she thought the woman was on drugs when she related it.
The victim took the stand and testified Rouleau was a single parent with three children, and he was close to her until a grandparent died. After that, he said Rouleau began treating him differently.
He told the jury he had to "cuddle" with her and help her shower. He said he slept in a bed with her and on one occasion she asked him if he "wanted to do it.”
He testified she sexually abused him then and on another occasion.
Marsh peppered him about inconsistencies between his statements in his interview at Patsy's House and his testimony on the stand regarding the presence of another child in the bed and whether he was kicked out of the home or left voluntarily.
"Your story has shifted over the years," she said.
Testimony resumes Thursday. Aggravated sexual assault of a child is a first degree felony punishable by up to life prison in the event of a conviction.
In Clay County, Rouleau is accused of killing Kenneth Dewayne Douglas, 57, who died from a stab wound to the heart at a home in Petrolia in March 2023.
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This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Defense lawyer: Rouleau was the victim, not perpetrator in sex assault
