by Coral Aponte
News of a Bristol man being charged with sexually abusing a girl in his custody for many years after she was placed there by state authorities has drawn the ire of Rep. Liz Linehan, a Cheshire Democrat who co-chairs the Connecticut General Assembly’s Children’s Committee.
Linehan released a statement a few hours after news stories surfaced about the arrest of Roger Barriault, 63, of Bristol, who was charged based on a warrant with first-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to child based on allegations dating back to January 2004.
The child – who is an adult now and will remain unidentified here – was living in the Barriaults’ care following placements by both the Department of Children and Families and the Bristol Probate Court, and despite previous allegations of sexual misconduct, according to a civil lawsuit filed by the victim.
According to the warrant, the sexual abuse started in 2004 when the girl was 8 or 9 years old. She told police he sexually assaulted her over 3,000 times in the years following. The warrant also says that at age 13, the girl became pregnant with Barriault’s child, which was corroborated by DNA testing in December and followed by the issuance of the arrest warrant Jan. 26.
Barriault is free on a $200,000 bond – reduced from $500,000 – and is due to appear in court again Feb. 14.
The victim’s lawsuit names Barriault, his wife, and his mother-in-law, whose home was where the alleged conduct took place, and is seeking money damages and other relief that the court deems just and equitable. The lawsuit states that all three lived with the victim at the home in Bristol with an unknown number of other children.
In an interview Friday, Linehan said she has always been an advocate for stopping child abuse, which she says is far more common than most people realize. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says one in four girls, and one in 20 boys experience sexual abuse in the United States.
Linehan said the Bristol case underscores the need for change that she wants to address through legislative action in the upcoming session.
Linehan says there are two things the Children’s Committee needs to look at, one of them being where the breakdown was in the Barriault case and where the breakdown is in how the state regulates the transfer of guardianship, either through DCF, probate court, or the foster care system.
“There were multiple systems of government that were involved in this particular case and it is essentially strengthening my belief that across all systems of government we need to further educate about the signs of child sexual abuse as well as the lasting effects,” Linehan said.
The CDC reports that 91% of sex abuse cases are perpetrated by a person the victim knows or trusts – often a family member or a close acquaintance – and the total economic impact of child sexual abuse in the U.S. was estimated to be at least $9.3 billion in 2015.
Before the Bristol case was publicized, Linehan said she was working on a bill to create a working group within the state government to determine what departments or levels of government need a greater understanding and training on child sex abuse. She mentioned the departments of Social Services and Education, and the Judicial Branch specifically.
“With so many agencies and so many systems of government dealing with children, the placement of children, and the welfare of children, there needs to be more discussion between agencies, better guidelines, and certainly more training,” Linehan said.