The crimes are alleged to have occurred between 2009 and 2017 in Carlisle and Franklin.
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On Monday, the oldest accuser, now 19, sobbed as she recounted abuse she said she suffered at the hands of Rowland for five years. At one point, Warren County Judge Donald Oda II took a break for the teen to regain composure and the courtroom was cleared of nearly all spectators for the rest of the testimony.
The teen said Rowland told her when she was 12, “Let me be you teacher,” then touched her genitalia.
“He said he wanted to show me certain sexual things so I could be prepared when I was in a relationship,” the teen said.
The abuse continued for five years in a swimming pool, a shed and in the residence, progressing to vaginal penetration, the teen said. She said she never told anyone.
Eventually, the teen said she told Rowland “it had to stop” and told him if he stopped, she wouldn’t tell anyone.
Defense attorney Tamara Sack pointed out there were family members and friends the teen could have told about the alleged abuse, but she did not.
Sack asked the teen, “did you not see a pattern of the alleged abuse when you were alone with him?” while questioning why she continued to be alone with a man who was allegedly abusing her.
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“My mindset was if he was doing it to me, he wasn’t doing it to anyone else,” the teen said.
After discovering there were other alleged victims, the teen agreed to make a recorded call to Rowland to try to get a confession.
The teen told Rowland in the call about the other teen girl who said he allegedly sexually touched her. When Rowland denied any wrongdoing, the teen said she didn’t believe him “because of what you did to me.”
“Why did you touch me?” the teen asked Rowland.
“It sounds like you want me to confess to something; I am not going to do that,” he said on the call, which was played for the jury on Tuesday.
Sisters, one now 11 and the other 18, testified today that they were sexually abused by Rowland.
The 11-year-old told the jury that Rowland took her into the shed when she was 6 or 7, told her to pull down her pants and touched her private parts.
“I didn’t really know what was going on,” the girl said.
Later, after hearing about her sister and the other teen, she realized she had been sexually abused, she said. She said she told no one for years until her sister talked about her alleged abuse.
The 18-year-old girl told the jury her genitalia and breast was touched by Rowland three times, beginning when she was 9 and Rowland took her in the shed. She said he squeezed her breast after reaching under her shirt.
“I just remember being confused about what happened,” the teen said.
During cross examination by the defense, the teen said she did not tell anyone about the alleged abuse despite the continued incidents.
Sack also pointed out during cross examination that the teen was angry in the past at the way Rowland treated some of his animals and Rowland once called children services to check on the well-being of her family.
The defense said animosity toward Rowland may be the reason for the allegations.
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