Rose sentenced to two life terms

By PAUL STONE

PALESTINE — A 51-year-old Elkhart man described by the state as a “predator” on young boys was found guilty Thursday afternoon of two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and sentenced to life in prison on each count.

An Anderson County jury deliberated for just under two hours Thursday before finding Steven Anthony Rose, 51, of Elkhart guilty of both counts of the first-degree felony offense.

Rose, who was previously convicted of a similar offense in the early 1980s in Travis County, displayed little emotion when 349th State District Judge Pam Foster Fletcher read the jury’s verdicts shortly before noon Thursday.

Rose received an automatic life sentence under state law based on his plea of “true” to the Travis County conviction on the charge of sexual abuse of a child.

Early Thursday afternoon, the state — which was represented during this week’s trial by Anderson County District Attorney Doug Lowe and assistant district attorney Scott Holden — argued that Rose’s two life sentences be “stacked,” meaning one must be served before the other begins.

Rose’s defense attorney, Paul Guillotte, meanwhile, asked that the sentences be served concurrently, arguing that his client would be in his early 80s when he becomes parole eligible in 30 years.

Fletcher accepted the state’s argument, ordering that Rose’s sentences be stacked.

Based on Thursday’s sentences, the district attorney acknowledged that Rose will likely die in prison.

Lowe said the punishment was appropriate for the never-married, ex-Marine who spent time in the Philippines and Guatemala as a Christian missionary in the interim between his first prison term and the one about to begin.

“This case demanded that severe of a punishment,” Lowe said.

On Wednesday, three male witnesses — currently ages 9, 20 and 40 respectively — testified how Rose sexually assaulted them. The incidents occurred in 2007, 1996 and 1980 respectively, according to their testimony.

The 40-year-old victim, who now works in the information technology field outside of Austin, testified that his life has been affected by Rose’s actions of more than a quarter-century ago. He told the jury he was sexually assaulted by Rose, who was his baseball coach at the time, inside an Austin movie theater.

Rose was arrested at his Elkhart residence on the night of March 23, 2007 — one week after the mother of the then-7-year-old victim told authorities her son had made an outcry against the man.

A taped interview with Rose just hours after his March 2007 arrest was played to the seven-woman, five-man jury Tuesday afternoon.

During the nearly-hour-long interview with Anderson County sheriff’s Sgt. Jay Russell, the suspect admitted that the 7-year-old boy stayed at his residence virtually every weekend over a period of time, sleeping in the same bed with him.

During the interview, Rose, however, consistently denied performing oral sex on the boy.

Jurors were also shown photographs of Rose’s bedroom which included multiple photographs of young boys on his bedroom wall, while lacking pictures of female subjects or family members.

During his final argument Thursday, Lowe told the jury that animal predators typically use either “speed” or “deception” to capture their prey.

Lowe compared Rose to a snake which he said uses deception, indicating the man preyed on young, susceptible boys without strong family units.

“He truly is a serial predator,” Lowe said.

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Paul Stone may be contacted via e-mail at pstone@palestineherald.com

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