How Could You? Hall of Shame-Randy Louis Roe UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Hendersonville, Tennessee, foster dad Randy Louis Roe, 55 “has been charged with raping a 12-year-old girl who was placed in his home by the Department of Children’s Service.”

He was arrested by “Sumner County Sheriff’s Office deputies on Sept. 17 and charged with one count of rape of a child, according to an arrest affidavit filed in Sumner County General Sessions court.”

“The girl was one of three siblings placed in the home of Roe and his wife between March and June of this year. Shortly after the siblings were moved to another foster home, the girl told her new foster mother that Roe had raped her on multiple occasions. The girl repeated the claims to an investigator on Sept. 16. Roe was arrested the next day.

The last assault occurred about two weeks before the child and her siblings were removed from the home, the affidavit states.

The Department of Children’s Services launched an investigation in June and is working closely with law enforcement, a spokesman said.

“The girl, her sister and brother were moved out of the home because of our concerns about the children’s behavior in June and placed with another family,” DCS spokesman Rob Johnson said. “The department has been investigating ever since.”

Roe and his wife became foster parents in November 2011, according to DCS. They have fostered 18 children since then, some in sibling groups of three or four. There have been no previous reports of abuse or neglect against the Roes, according to DCS. The Roes underwent a full background check and training program before they became foster parents, Johnson said.

Major Don Linzy of the Sumner County Sheriff’s said the investigation is ongoing. He said his office has not ruled out the possibility of other victims.

“In all these types of cases, we always look for other victims,” he added.

Roe remained in the Sumner County Jail on Wednesday on a $100,000 bond. He has been ordered to not have contact with anyone under 18 years of age. His General Sessions court date is set for 9 a.m. Oct. 22.”

Hendersonville foster dad charged with raping girl[The Tennessean 9/24/14 by Anita Wadhwani]

“A Department of Children’s Services foster home in Sumner County has been shut down.

The home was in deplorable condition.

According to Sumner County Sheriff’s Investigators, one of the operators of the facility, Randy Roe, has also been arrested on one count of rape of a child.

It was not immediately clear if the alleged victim was a foster child at the home.

A DCS spokesman confirms the home has been shut down and there is an active investigation.

They stated, “DCS has been investigating this since mid-September. Roe was a foster father and this is a foster home. It is still under investigation by DCS.”

The foster home was sanctioned in 2011. Since then, at least 18 children have lived in the home at one period or another. None live there now.

Other DCS sources told News 2 Investigates that Roe had gone through the mandated DCS training and background checks.

He was also a volunteer firefighter.”

DCS foster home shut down, operator charged with child rape[WKRN 9/24/14]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

 

Update:“A Hendersonville foster father charged in September with raping a 12-year-old girl who was placed in his home by the Department of Children’s Services has been indicted by a Sumner County grand jury.

Randy Louis Roe, 56, of New Shackle Island Road was arrested by Sumner County Sheriff’s Office deputies on Sept. 17 and charged with one count of rape of a child.

A grand jury returned an indictment on Dec. 3 charging Roe with three counts of rape of a child, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, one count of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of solicitation of a minor — rape of a child. He was arraigned on Dec. 19 at which time he pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The Department of Children’s Services launched an investigation in June and is working closely with law enforcement, DCS spokesman Rob Johnson said in September.

The girl was one of three siblings placed in the home of Roe and his wife between March and June of this year. Shortly after the siblings were moved to another foster home, the girl told her new foster mother that Roe had raped her on multiple occasions. The girl repeated the claims to an investigator on Sept. 16, and Roe was arrested the next day.

He is charged with raping the preteen three times between March 14 and June 14, according to the indictment. He is also charged with possessing photos of a minor engaging in sexual activity on his cell phone and soliciting sex from a minor who was under the age of 13.

If convicted, the foster father could face a maximum of 148-year prison sentence. Each rape count carries a 25- to 40-year sentence, according to Sumner County Assistant District Attorney Tara Wyllie, who is prosecuting the case.

Roe and his wife became foster parents in November 2011, according to DCS. They have fostered 18 children since then, some in sibling groups of three or four. There have been no previous reports of abuse or neglect against the Roes, according to DCS.

Roe remains in the Sumner County Jail on a $100,000 bond. His next court date is set for March 12.”

Hendersonville foster dad indicted on child rape charges[The Tennessean 12/30/14 by Tena Lee]

Update 2: “A Hendersonville foster father charged last year with raping a 12-year-old girl placed in his home by the Department of Children’s Services has been indicted on new charges involving the possession of hundreds of sexually explicit images involving children.

Randy Louis Roe, 56, of New Shackle Island Road, was indicted by a Sumner County grand jury on July 9 on 48 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

According to the indictments, Roe had 154 images of minors engaged in sexual activity on a computer between January and September 2014. He’s also charged with possessing 42 images and eight videos on a compact disc, and 31 photos and two videos on a thumb drive during the same time period. Roe is expected to be arraigned on those charges at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, July 24.

A grand jury previously indicted Roe in December, charging him with three counts of rape of a child, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, one count of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of solicitation of a minor — rape of a child. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges. Roe is scheduled to appear on those charges at 11 a.m. Friday.

The December indictment followed Roe’s arrest in September after a girl who had been placed in the home he shared with his wife told authorities that Roe had sexual contact with her on several occasions during the time she and her siblings lived in the home –between March and June 2014.

Department of Children’s Services spokesman Rob Johnson said in September that the department launched an investigation in June and was working closely with law enforcement.

Roe and his wife became foster parents in November 2011, according to DCS. They have fostered 18 children since then, some in sibling groups of three or four. There had been no previous reports of abuse or neglect against the Roes, according to the agency.

Roe remains in the Sumner County Jail on a $200,000 bond.”

Foster dad charged with rape faces child porn charges [The Tennessean 7/20/15 by Tena Lee]

Update 3:“A 14-year-old girl told jurors Monday her Hendersonville foster father raped her multiple times when she was 12 while her younger sister slept beside her and his wife was at work.

Monday began the trial for Randy Louis Roecharged with raping the girl placed in his care in 2014. Roe was indicted on seven counts accusing him of raping the juvenile, touching her inappropriately, sending her sexually explicit messages and photographs and having nude photos of the girl. Roe has pleaded not guilty to all seven counts.

“I didn’t tell anyone because he told me not to tell anyone. I was scared,” the victim said. “My thought was that if I send him pictures and did like he asked me to do, he wouldn’t touch me. I was scared I was going to get in trouble and I didn’t want to get in trouble.”

Roe was arrested by Sumner County Sheriff’s Office deputies in September 2014 after the girl, her younger sister and brother were placed in the home by the state Department of Children Services. The alleged crimes occurred between March and June of 2014 and in July 2014 while the girl and her siblings lived with Roe, his wife and their son on New Shackle Island Road.

Victim: ‘I started crying’

Prosecutor Sydney Preston asked jurors in his opening statement to step inside the shoes of a vulnerable girl who experienced a “distinct misfortune.”

“You think you’re going to be placed in a home with an individual who will care for you and nurture you and cause you no harm,” Preston said. “But Randy Louis Roe sees an opportunity to prey upon you and toy with you, the perfect victim.”

Roe’s attorney John Harding asked jurors to pay attention to the credibility of the witnesses.

“There’s no doubt Randy Roe did some bad things,” Harding said. “He took a turn down a dark road. The question here is: did he do all of the bad things he’s accused of? You will hear a contradictory testimony about that. The victim’s told more than one story more than one way.”

Through tears, the victim said early on after she moved into Roe’s home, she woke up to him staring at her while she slept. He also came into her room, located across from his son’s room, and would kiss and touch her inappropriately  while her 11-year-old sister slept beside her. He tried to have sex with her several times and eventually did.

The victim said she resisted.

“I started freaking out,” she said. “I started shaking and crying.”

After the acts, the victim said she developed an infection which caused swelling and requiredmedication.

“I asked to go to the doctor and no one would take me,” the victim said also referring to other people she lived with after the Roes.

The victim and her siblings moved out of the house after several months because her brother acted out “really bad,” had an “attitude problem” and broke a window, the victim said.

Mother: ‘No one would listen’

After the girl and her siblings moved to another foster home, the victim and Roe continued communicating electronically through email and Facebook messenger. Roe sent her sexually explicit photos and requested she do the same. She complied .

“If I’m breathing, I’m thinking about you,” Roe told the victim in messages presented as evidence. “You made me feel something I haven’t felt for a lot of years and it scares me to death because I really don’t want to go to jail. I know this is somehow going to work out for us. I promise you that. I will never quit fighting for you.”

The victim said she shared with a school counselor she felt uncomfortable with Roe “always hugging” her. The counselor allegedly said Roe was “the loving type.”

The victim’s sister, now 13,  testified she woke up one night and her sister was crying. The younger sister said she told their mother Roe was trying to touch them. The girls’ mother said she called multiple law enforcement agencies in several counties.

“No one would listen to me,” the mother said Monday.

Verdict expected Thursday 

Prosecutor Tara Wyllie told the jury of seven women and five men  that attorneys and the judge are being careful asking jurors questions about impartiality in light of a case involving a rape at Vanderbilt University. One defendant’s case required a retrial aftera juror failed to disclose he was a victim of a sexual assault.

“We are all human. We all have prejudices,” Judge Dee David Gay said. “You must be able to be fair and impartial. You must be able to put away all prejudices.”
Wyllie emphasized to jurors that sexual crimes usually do not have witnesses but the victim.  The jury also includes two men serving as alternates.

At the time of Roe’s arrest, a DCS spokesman said Roe and his wife became foster parents in November 2011. Roe’s son and another foster girl who had a young child and was pregnant also lived with the Roes. His grandchildren would also visit, the victim said.

A DCS spokesman said the couple had no previous reports of abuse or neglect against them and completed a full background check and training program before foster children were allowed in their home.”

Victim testifies in rape case against Hendersonville foster dad[The Tennessean 8/16/16 by Dessislava Yankova]