Man pleads guilty after sexually assaulting girl over 3,600 times, getting her pregnant at age 12

BRISTOL, Conn. (WFSB/Gray News) – A man accused of sexually assaulting a child for more than a decade has pleaded guilty.

Roger Barriault, of Bristol, Connecticut, entered his plea on Tuesday, according to Nate Baber, the victim’s attorney.

Barriault pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual assault, which comes with a 25-year sentence suspended after 10 years.

Barriault must be in prison for a five-year mandatory minimum sentence followed by 20 years of probation.

Barriault was the victim’s legal guardian, according to Baber.

Officials say Barriault sexually assaulted the girl over 3,600 times and got her pregnant when she was just 12 years old. She later gave birth to the baby.

Police say the abuse started when she was 9 years old and ended at age 20.

The victim, who is now an adult, went to police in May 2023. Barriault was arrested in early 2024.

The assaults, according to Baber, happened between 2004 and 2015.

A critical report from the state claims the Department of Children and Families, and the probate court, failed to protect the young girl.

The report also claims that when the girl got pregnant, DCF suspected Barriault was the father, but they did not report those suspicions to police or seek a court order to make Barriault take a paternity test. A test done in 2024 proved he was the father.

In a statement from DCF to WFSB, they said that the system in place today has “evolved significantly over the past 20 years,” and the findings in the decades-old Barriault case are “of limited utility for purposes of this report.”

Baber says the victim first came into contact with DCF as a foster child when she was between 6 months and 2 years old. She was placed with a foster mother who then introduced her to Barriault. That foster mother moved away, according to her attorney, placing the victim with the Barriaults.

Baber says DCF had been unaware the foster parent had moved.

The Office of the Child Advocate previously told WFSB they were investigating after receiving multiple allegations of prior sexual abuse of children placed in Barriault’s care and custody.

Barriault was first accused of inappropriate touching in 2005 and 2006 by a different child.