Rutgers-Newark professor Anna Stubblefield claims the disabled man "wasn't intellectually impaired at all," and that he could communicate by typing on a keyboard with her assistance
NEWARK -- On trial on charges of sexually assaulting a disabled man, Rutgers-Newark professor Anna Stubblefield testified on Thursday that she and the alleged victim were in a consensual relationship.
The state's experts have said the 34-year-old man, known as D.J., is unable to speak and has intellectual and physical disabilities, but Stubblefield claimed "he wasn't intellectually impaired at all," and that he could communicate by typing on a keyboard with her assistance.
"None whatsoever," Stubblefield said when her attorney asked if she had any doubts about whether the relationship was consensual. "Because I knew he was the one who was saying everything that he typed."
As they became romantically involved, Stubblefield said "it was initiated on both sides," and they made sure each other "was good with what was happening." She referred to their romance as "just a regular relationship."
It was obvious, Stubblefield said, that D.J. could consent to their sexual interactions.
"I wouldn't have fallen in love with him if he was somebody who wasn't capable of consent," Stubblefield said. "He was my best friend."
Before Stubblefield finished her direct testimony, her attorney, James Patton, asked how she fell in love with D.J. in light of his physical disabilities.
"If somebody has an interesting, engaging mind and a good heart and a beautiful soul....you love the person and so you love being close to them and you love the body that they're in if that's the body that they have," Stubblefield replied.
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Stubblefield, 45, of West Orange, is facing two counts of aggravated sexual assault for allegedly abusing D.J. in her Newark office in 2011. Rutgers has placed her on administrative leave without pay.
D.J., who suffers from cerebral palsy and other ailments, wears diapers and requires assistance with walking, bathing, dressing and eating, his mother has testified. Other than making noises, D.J. does not speak, his brother said.
Prosecutors argue D.J. is unable to consent, but Stubblefield claims he consented through the typing method, a controversial technique known as "facilitated communication."
Stubblefield met D.J. in 2009 through his brother, then a Rutgers student, who was taking a course of Stubblefield's and asked the professor about ways to help D.J. with his communication.
Over the next two years, Stubblefield said D.J. wrote papers that were presented at conferences and he took a literature class at Rutgers. As part of that class, D.J. read novels and wrote essays, Stubblefield said.
Stubblefield said she was reassured he was the one typing, in part because of mistakes he would make on the keyboard.
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Stubblefield said she and D.J. ultimately revealed their sexual relationship to his mother and his brother in May 2011.
On the witness stand on Thursday, Stubblefield explained how she had begun to have romantic feelings for D.J. and how the relationship ultimately became sexual in nature. She was married at the time, Stubblefield said.
Stubblefield recalled how D.J. addressed one of her classes in March 2011, when he was typing answers to the students' questions and she read the answers aloud.
At the time, one student asked D.J. whether he was interested in getting married, Stubblefield said.
According to Stubblefield, D.J. typed, "I want that more than anything, but that doesn't happen for people with disabilities like mine."
"I just wanted to put my arms around him and say, 'You can have that,'" Stubblefield recalled. "'I love you.'"
Soon afterward, Stubblefield said she met with D.J. at his day program and she was explaining to him why she was helping him.
Stubblefield said she told D.J., "I do what I do for you, because I love you."
"And he typed, 'I love you too,'" Stubblefield said.
When D.J. later asked whether she was physically attracted to him, Stubblefield said she told him: "I'm in love with you. That means I'm in love with you the whole way."
"And that was when he said, 'kiss me,' and then I did," Stubblefield said.
Stubblefield said D.J. then asked her whether it was possible for them to have sex in light of his cerebral palsy.
"And I said, 'There's only one way for us to find out,'" Stubblefield said.
Bill Wichert may be reached at bwichert@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillWichertNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.