Accuser says he wanted sex assault allegations against Wetteland to stay within family

The gallery of the 462nd District Court, presided over by Judge Lee Ann Breading, was full Tuesday morning, and many in attendance were associated with or members of the Wetteland family.

To start the trial, Wetteland pleaded not guilty to all three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child. He was first arrested in January 2019 after a relative alleged Wetteland had sexually assaulted him on three instances in 2004, 2005 and 2006, when he was between the ages of 4 and 6.

Wetteland was a professional baseball player and coach. He coached baseball and was a Bible study teacher at Liberty Christian School in Argyle.

Opening statements

State prosecutor Lindsey Sheguit’s opening statement said the accuser, who is now 22 years old, viewed Wetteland as “larger than life” and his “whole world.” She referenced Wetteland’s career as a famous baseball player for the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers.

The accuser loved Wetteland, she said, and as a kid, he wanted to spend as much time with Wetteland as possible. And Wetteland forced him to perform a sex act on him when he was 4, 5 and 6 years old, she said, when the two were in the man’s master bathroom together.

She said at the time, the boy didn’t know what was happening and thought it might be normal. He remembers the second time it hurt and he thought he might throw up, she said. And the third time, there was a rustle outside the bathroom door, and Wetteland stopped.

Since the first incident, the boy regularly experienced incontinence, he self-harmed, and he experienced suicidal ideation, Sheguit said.

Wetteland’s relative did not tell anyone about the incidents until he was 16, during an argument with someone named Chris, who was not a family member, Sheguit said. It was the first time he told anyone of the accusations. The prosecutor said that afterward, the incontinence and self-harming behaviors improved.

The boy never wanted law enforcement or anyone else involved, Sheguit said. He just wanted an apology from Wetteland. That apology never came, she said.

Two years later, Chris and one of his family members suggested the accuser write a letter to explain it to other family members and gain closure, Sheguit said. The then-18-year-old used the family member’s computer to write it in Google Docs.

He was not aware, Sheguit said, that the computer was logged in and the document saved on his Argyle ISD Google account. Argyle ISD uses software called Gaggle that flags certain language used on a student’s Google account and notifies school personnel, who are mandated to report any reasonable suspicions of abuse.

This has led to an investigation and a trial that the accuser, Sheguit said, never asked for. He was interviewed and examined by several authorities and child advocates. His story remained consistent, and he never recanted, she said.

Wetteland was arrested on Jan. 14, 2019, and later indicted on three charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

The accuser is trying to start a life for himself in a different state, with a job and a stable romantic relationship, Sheguit said. Tuesday’s testimony would be scary to talk about even for an adult, she said.

But defense attorneys Derek Adame and Caroline Simone painted the alleged events in a different light.

“It’s a good story,” Adame said. “Too good to be true because it’s not true.”

Adame said the accuser is a performer. He was in theater and choir in school and is pursuing a performing arts career. Adame said the 22-year-old is easily manipulated, is a “spoiled brat” and tells stories to get what he wants.

Chris hates Wetteland, Adame said. He said Chris manipulated the accuser to gain control over the Wetteland family. Other witnesses claimed Chris was not planning to testify at the trial.

The accuser has a history of saying shocking lies to his family members, likes attention and grew up in the shadow of other family members, Adame said. Wetteland and the accuser were very close, and it wasn’t until Chris came into their lives that the teen spoke of any sexual assault.

Adame said Wetteland and others believe much of the accuser’s written and electronic correspondence with them was actually from Chris. He said Chris’ bullying and frustration over incontinence led the accuser to say whatever he could to get Chris to leave him alone.

The accuser doesn’t want to be here, Adame said, but “the wheels of justice keep turning,” and as investigations ensued, Chris coached him to tell stories of Wetteland sexually assaulting him. He manipulated the teen to write the letter on his school Google account knowing it would flag the content-scanning system, Adame said.

The only people who believe him, Adame said, are not his family members but the child safety professionals who are “trained to believe the accuser.”

For the most part, jurors remained expressionless throughout the trial. But at this statement, one juror raised her eyebrows, then shook her head.

Accuser’s testimony

He wanted an “I’m sorry” from Wetteland, and that would’ve done it, the accuser said during his testimony.

After introducing himself to the jury, he was asked to describe the bathroom of Wetteland’s home, where the alleged incidents took place, and how frequently Wetteland was around.

As a baseball coach for minor league teams and the Rangers, Wetteland was often gone for extended periods of time in the spring and fall, the accuser said. When Wetteland was around — typically around the winter holidays — the accuser said he wanted to spend as much time with Wetteland as he possibly could, and that meant being in the bathroom together.

“I don’t know how to say this politely …” the accuser said before describing the first alleged sexual assault, when he was 4.

Not every time the two spent in the bathroom together was sexual, he said. But at age 5, he alleged a similar incident took place. It again made him feel gross and hurt his jaw, he said, but he tried to rationalize it. He said he loved Wetteland and wasn’t sure what happened.

On the alleged third incident, he said the sexual assault ended because of a noise outside the bathroom. He said Wetteland said their time in the bathroom was over and taught the boy to “dry off with a towel like a baseball player.”

After the age of 6, he said there was not another sexual instance between them. When he got older, Wetteland became somewhat estranged, and he said he started to understand that what happened was wrong. He said he began self-harming, and he felt confused, then angry, and turned that anger on himself.

But the accuser said he still loved Wetteland and the estrangement was difficult for him. He tried to reach out to Wetteland multiple times, including for an apology, but did not receive one.

He had issues with incontinence from childhood until adolescence. He said he had trouble talking about what happened, “but it’s the truth.”

When Chris moved into the accuser’s home, he was allegedly frustrated with the teenager’s incontinence. During one of these fights, the accuser — who was 16 at the time — said he blurted out that maybe it wouldn’t be happening if Wetteland hadn’t sexually abused him. He said the two stood there in silence for a moment. Internally, he was having a mental breakdown, he said, and then he ran away from that part of the home.

At some point, while Chris was living in the home, the accuser said he was going to commit suicide before Chris walked in. He said during cross-examination Chris was the only witness to this event.

He said he felt scared after that. He said he never thought he’d tell anyone of the sexual assault until he moved to another country or Wetteland was no longer living. After Chris told the accuser’s mother, there was a family discussion with the three along with the accuser’s younger sister.

The son would have many discussions with his mother, she would later testify. But he said he was still struggling with what happened two years later and said his mother and Chris suggested he write a letter to explain it to the rest of the family.

When the letter was flagged on his school Google account, he said he wasn’t mentally ready to talk about it and that he still wasn’t while sitting in the courtroom.

During cross-examination, Adame questioned the accuser about text messages he sent to Wetteland when he was a teenager and around the time he was writing the letter over winter break of his senior year of high school.

In the messages, Adame said the accuser told Wetteland how he identified with various sexualities and/or genders. Adame said Wetteland believed the messages were weird, that they sounded like Chris and that Chris was manipulating him. The accuser said he doesn’t remember Wetteland saying that.

He said he was trying to come out to Wetteland through the messages and not face to face because of their estrangement. When the accuser went to further explain his identity, Adame objected, and Judge Breading sustained the objection.

When Adame asked if his demeanor during the trial Tuesday was consistent with his behavior as an actor, he said no and that he had time to process and come to terms with the incidents but is still nervous and scared.

Adame asked about his recurrent behavior of saying shocking things to his family members to get attention, and the 22-year-old said they were to make his family laugh, rather than for shock value.

Adame asked if Wetteland’s accuser recalled a conversation with the state attorneys in which he said he was scared and questioning his memory of the alleged incidents when he was a child. The accuser said he stopped questioning his memory earlier in the legal proceedings of the case.

Felony prosecutor Rachel Nichols asked the 22-year-old about his relationship with Chris. He said they no longer have a relationship, that Chris goes back and forth on whether he believes the accusations, and that he would not say something happened because Chris told him to.

His sister’s testimony

The accuser’s sister introduced herself, stating she is two years younger than him, making her roughly 2 to 4 years old at the time of the alleged sexual abuse.

She said Wetteland’s relationship with her and her brother was different from other members of the family. She said Wetteland’s estrangement from them was difficult, especially for her brother.

When Chris called her to a family meeting, she was 14 and didn’t know anything about the accusations, she said. Her brother only told her in vague terms what occurred, she said, and gave a more detailed description to the adults.

It was her understanding, she said, that her brother did not want to write the letter at first but that he later wanted to and Chris could not have pushed him to do it.

During cross-examination, when Simone mentioned the “shocking” statements that the accuser was known for in his family, his sister smiled and laughed lightly. She said her brother would not tell lies when he did this.

Nichols asked her to describe his demeanor when he made these statements as a child. She said she saw his face get focused before he said something off-topic and silly to make them laugh. She said this was his way of being part of the conversation, and they were always good-spirited statements.

When asked if her brother would tell stories, she said yes. She said she could tell when he was lying because of his tone of voice and that she can easily tell when someone is lying. He would stutter, shift his eyes, and when prompted for more information, he would easily own up to the lie, she said.

The sister said she has never seen him exhibit such behavior when discussing the accusations against Wetteland and that he never changed his story. She said it’s her opinion that he is a truthful person.

His mother’s testimony

The accuser’s mother testified Tuesday and left the room in tears after discussing her son’s experiences.

After explaining her own relationship to John Wetteland, the state attorneys asked her to describe his relationship with the accuser. “Precious,” she said. They adored each other and viewed the other as if they hung the moon, she said, but that Wetteland was often traveling for work.

When her son made an outcry about the sexual assaults at age 16, she said she could not recall what his demeanor was like.

Regarding his behavior throughout childhood, she said her son was easy to potty-train around the age of 3. She said it was about two years after that, when he would have been around 5, that he started to experience incontinence.

She said she initially did not believe her son. But if she knew what she knew now about molestation, she said, she would have responded differently. She thought her son’s incontinence, stuttering and fear of the bathroom were “just little kid stuff,” she said, and that his self-harm was teenage angst. Now, she said, she knows poor mental health and molestation have physical markers.

His mother said after he brought up the abuse during the fight with Chris, his incontinence improved, but he was still struggling with the issue mentally. When asked if she called the police or Child Protective Services, she tearfully said no.

She said it was her and Chris’ idea to have him write the letter, but they did not help him write it. When Adame asked if there was any consequence for writing the letter, she said she wasn’t going to let him go play paintball or something similar until he finished it. She said she did this not to be vindictive but because she thought it would benefit him.

When asked by Adame how many times they talked about the alleged incidents, she said many and “12 hundred” times. She said her son never took back what he said or changed his story throughout all the conversations.

Sheguit told the mother Adame was suggesting she coached her son by asking how many conversations they had about the alleged incidents. She briefly sobbed and said no, she was trying to help her son work through the issue.

Child abuse professionals

The state called the accuser’s counselor from his high school in Argyle. Counselor Kathy Arendt, along with other central administrators at the school and Argyle ISD, received notification that the student’s letter written on his school Google account contained certain language.

The counselor explained that the system, Gaggle, is set up to alert administrators if a student types in a school email, Google file or other places language that is related to violence, abuse, sex, suicide, etc. She said the superintendent sets up the parameters for the language that gets flagged.

Arendt remembers being alerted about the letter and reading its contents concerning Wetteland, which she said were “horrifying.” She, as others who closely work with children, are mandated reporters — they must report any believed abuse, whether current or not — to CPS within 48 hours. She said she reported it and called the teen’s mother.

When Simone asked about the teen’s demeanor when she spoke with him about the incident, the counselor said he didn’t cry and that he seemed like it was overwhelming for him.

The state also called the CPS investigator for the case. Kendra Luttrell, a former investigator for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, said that while the accuser was a legal adult at the time of the investigation, his sister was 16 and they have to investigate for the safety of all children in proximity to the incident.

Luttrell said the siblings’ mother was cooperative, not shocked when the investigator spoke with her, and was protective of her children. Wetteland did not want to speak to her, Luttrell said, and she informed him he doesn’t have to.

The investigator said the accuser told her specific statements of sexual assault, giving sensory details that she said help indicate the accuracy of a statement.

She said she did not find any red flags for coaching in the accuser’s statements.

During her separate interview, the 16-year-old sister made no outcry of Wetteland sexually assaulting her, and the investigator said she ruled out any sexual abuse.

The accuser also participated in a voluntary exam by a sexual assault nurse examiner, Julie Mattson, who was called to testify. She explained how the examination works and said they include getting a narrative history of the allegations so they can make a medical diagnosis or determine treatment for the person.

She said the accuser described the events of the assaults and said Wetteland told him not to tell anyone, that he had nightmares and that Wetteland had stood in his doorway at night, making him uncomfortable.

The last witness called to the stand Tuesday was Kimberly Kunz, a forensic interviewer with the Children’s Advocacy Center for North Texas in Lewisville, where the accuser was interviewed.

Kunz said there were no signs of coaching in the accuser’s interview.

She explained how an accidental outcry of abuse is an outcry the victim did not intend to make and gave an example — a child writes down a description of abuse in a diary thinking no one will read it, but their mother finds the diary and alerts authorities. A purposeful outcry is when the child intends to make an outcry of abuse.

Based on the accuser’s account, she said it was an accidental outcry.

When asked about sensory details, Kunz said that “for going off the memory of a child, he gave me quite a few.” She said with trauma, the mind dissociates, but the sensory aspect and what the body feels stays. She said the sensory details make an account real.

The interviewer described the accuser as calm, articulate, definitive. When asked if he got emotional, she said he did.

In his opening statement, Adame mentioned that during this interview, the accuser was wearing a shirt related to his school’s theater program. The defense lawyer claimed he was saying “I am an actor” with the shirt.

Adame asked if Kunz would call the accuser theatrical. She said he was not putting on a show, but that he was very descriptive and communicative and used bigger terminology.

She said a child’s involvement in theater does not mean she needs to be wary of their statements, as some in theater react differently and are withdrawn or communicative. Kunz said the teen’s enhanced vocabulary was not a red flag to her, nor was it a sign of coaching.

Adame asked if the accuser was angry at Wetteland and faulted him for other issues within the family, and Kunz said yes. When Nichols asked if it was unusual for a kid to be mad at their sexual abuser, Kunz said no.

Tuesday’s testimonies ended after the interviewer left the stand. The trial is expected to continue at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the 462nd District Court.