A teenage girl who took the witness stand Friday testified Jay Rodeback repeatedly said he couldn’t believe she was only 15 while they had sex.

The girl, now 17, claims the intercourse was not consensual.

Rodeback, 29, of Columbus, is charged with two counts of rape and two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. He is accused of forcing himself on the girl during Labor Day weekend 2021.

The teen testified on the second day of Rodeback’s trial in Richland County Common Pleas Court. She said she stayed with Madison Jessie and Rodeback that weekend after getting into an argument with her friend, who lived next door.

Rodeback would have been 27 at the time.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Sean Boone pointed out the girl has given conflicting stories of what happened and did not tell law enforcement Rodeback repeatedly referenced her being 15.

In the summer of 2021, Jessie and Rodeback were in a casual relationship. On the weekend in question, the teenage girl said Rodeback came to a back room, where she was.

The girl recalled Rodeback telling her Jessie said he could do whatever he wanted with the teen.

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Alleged victim says assault happened twice

“He started kissing me, and I froze. I didn’t know what to do,” the teen testified. “He took us to the floor. I couldn’t say anything. I couldn’t move, so I just went with it.”

She said once they were on the floor, Rodeback removed her pants and underwear, and the two had vaginal intercourse.

“Did you want to do that?” Assistant Prosecutor Nik Buckmeier asked the teen.

“No,” she replied. “I told him it hurt.”

The teen said Jessie had left the apartment for a short time, and when she returned, Rodeback and teen acted like nothing had happened between them.

In a second incident that weekend, the teen said she recalled waking up with Rodeback touching her.

“It escalated further to us having sex,” she testified. “I told him to stop.”

She testified Rodeback again repeatedly said he couldn’t believe the girl was 15.

Buckmeier asked the teen about having oral sex with Rodeback. She said she didn’t remember that happening. Buckmeier then had the girl read her statement to police to refresh her memory.

The teen then testified Rodeback held her head and forced her to engage in oral sex.

“Did you want to do that?” Buckmeier asked.

“No,” the girl replied, adding she froze again.

She said he pulled her back by the hips and told her to quit running away.

“He leaves, and I never saw him again,” the teen testified.

The girl said she initially lied to her mother about what happened, telling her she had consensual sex with a 16-year-old boy, and she feared being pregnant.

“I thought that she wouldn’t believe me,” the teen testified.

Buckmeier asked her about picking Rodeback out of a photo array. She began to cry when she looked at Rodeback’s picture.

“It’s like he knew what he did, and he was proud of it,” the girl said.

On cross-examination, Boone asked the teen why she made no mention of a second incident to police. The girl said she did not want to stress out her mother further.

In her testimony, the teen said there were no sexual incidents on the first day of the long weekend.

“That’s completely the opposite of what you told police,” Boone said.

The defense attorney also pointed out the teen made mention of only one incident to a sexual assault nurse examiner.

Nurse testifies about delayed disclosure

Jennifer Coffindaffer, a SANE nurse and forensic coordinator for OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital, was the final witness of Friday’s session.

She performed an exam on the teen about two weeks after the alleged rapes happened.

Coffindaffer said the girl showed no injuries but added that was not uncommon. She added it is not uncommon for adolescents to experience delayed disclosure instead of coming forward immediately.

“Sometimes they don’t know it’s wrong, or they’re fearful,” Coffindaffer said.

The girl has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome, but she received the diagnosis three months before the alleged abuse.

Coffindaffer said PTSD can affect a person’s memory.

“You’re not always remembering exactly what happened,” she said.

In the Friday morning session, the state called the girl’s mother and Jessie as witnesses.

The teen’s mom said she didn’t find out Rodeback’s age until she called police. She had been contacted by a school counselor who was confided in by her daughter.

On cross, the girl’s mom said she had no communication with her daughter on that Labor Day weekend and felt no reason to worry about her.

Jessie testified just before the alleged victim. She said she connected with Rodeback on social media on the day after her 18th birthday and moved in with him after her foster parents kicked her out for smoking marijuana.

“I just kind of felt like he was taking care of me,” Jessie said before adding she was booted from that place, too, after stealing a nicotine vape of Rodeback’s roommate.

She said Rodeback still visited her, including that Labor Day weekend.

“(Alleged victim) brought up the idea that she wanted to have sex with Jay,” Jessie testified. “I can’t remember if I said how old she was, but I think (teen) did.”

Jessie said she left the apartment because she didn’t approve of what was happening. She talked to the teen after returning home.

“She said that she told him to stop, but I wasn’t here to witness that,” Jessie said.

When the case resumes Monday before Judge Brent Robinson, the jury is expected to get the case.

mcaudill@gannett.com

419-521-7219

X (formerly Twitter): @MarkCau32059251

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Teenage girl who claims she was raped takes witness stand