A Washburn man is facing four felonies and five misdemeanors in a pair of criminal cases stemming from incidents in the 1980s and last year.
Wesley Roller, age unknown, is charged in one case with sodomy (victim under 14 years old) and first-degree sexual abuse. The second case carries charges of patronizing a sexual performance by a child, fourth-degree child molestation (child under 17) and misdemeanor second-degree sexual misconduct.
In the first case, Det. Abby Parsons, with the Barry County Sheriff’s Office, filed a probable cause report stating on Oct. 3, 2024, the Sheriff’s Office took a report in reference to Roller asking the victim, a juvenile male, to participate in making pornography, and the victim had an audio recording of the conversation.
During an Oct. 7, 2024, interview, the victim disclosed Roller allegedly asked if he was interested in filming pornography, which involved moving cameras, lights and decorations, and getting used to pornography happening 10 feet away from him.
The victim said Roller told him he would get paid for doing commercials and movies, and Roller allegedly told the victim vulgar stories about rape.
The victim also stated while riding in Roller’s vehicle, Roller allegedly asked the victim to lift up his shirt, then allegedly touched the victim’s chest and commented on his body.
The victim further said Roller allegedly forced him to show Roller a graphic photo of himself, asked to see his genitals and touched him inappropriately over his clothes.
On Oct. 15, 2024, in a post-Miranda interview, Roller claimed the victim was attempting to blackmail him, claiming the victim heard he was involved in pornography and wanted to participate. Roller said he attempted to discourage the victim from doing pornography by asking him questions about his sexual history, which Roller said he asked because the victim did not believe he was involved in pornography.
Roller said everything he told the victim was made up and denied ever touching the victim, but did admit to asking to see the victim’s genitalia.
In the second case, Parsons filed a probable cause statement saying she spoke with the victim on Nov. 14, 2024, via phone. The victim said he heard Parsons was investigating Roller, and said he was allegedly molested by Roller 40 years ago and wanted to make a report.
On Nov. 19, 2024, Parsons went to the victim’s residence for an interview, and the victim disclosed Roller allegedly touched his genitalia and forced him to touch Roller’s. The victim said the incidents occurred over a month to a monthand- a-half period during the summer when Roller was working crops on his family’s Barry County farm. The victim estimated the alleged incidents occurred when he was between 10 and 13 years old.
On Dec. 27, 2024, in a post-Miranda interview, Roller denied the allegations. In the same interview, Roller stated he did work on the victim’s family farm working crops.
Both probable cause statements were filed on Dec. 30, 2024, and warrants for both cases were served on Jan. 16, one day after issuance.
Roller is being held in jail on two $50,000 bonds, and court dates have yet to be determined.
