WELLSBURG – A Brooke County woman says her husband physically and sexually abused her for almost three decades.
Deborah Albert filed a civil complaint October 7 against Randy Ray Albert in Brooke Circuit Court.
Deborah Albert is in the process of getting a divorce from Randy Ray Albert, who is at Northern Regional Jail in Moundsville awaiting trial. He is a former San Diego County, California, Sheriff’s Deputy.
The complaint details “the horrific story of a woman suffering relentless physical and sexual abuse for decades at the hands of her husband.”
Deborah met Randy when her former partner had physically assaulted her. He responded to the call.
“Randy immediately began grooming her for years of future abuse by acting as white knight saving a damsel in distress,” the complaint states. “Randy took her to his home that very night to save her from her then current situation.
“From then until his recent arrest, they have been together. He was sweet and kind in the beginning. They soon married and began having children. But when the youngest child was of toddler age, Randy began abusing Deborah.”
They were married in 1991, and they have four adult children.
In the beginning, defendant was a charming and sweet boyfriend to Deborah,” the complaint states. “She believed she had found the man of her dreams.
“But he turned out to be a 6 foot tall, 250 pound monster.”
Deborah says Randy force her to perform oral sex on him daily, often as a requirement to gain permission to be allowed to leave the house or to run errands. She says he also repeatedly raped her vaginally and anally.
“He would handcuff her in a locked room so she could not get away,” the complaint states. “He beat her mercilessly.”
When the family moved from California to West Virginia about 10 years ago so Deborah could care for her ailing parents, she said she hoped the beating and rapes would stop. But, they did not.
“He beat her so badly she needed two shoulder replacement surgeries on the same shoulder and a total knee replacement,” the complaint states. “He vaginally raped her so brutally that she sustained extensive injury to her intimate area. He convinced her she was worthless and could not leave.
“He convinced her that as a sheriff’s deputy, he had power that protected him and that no one would believe her that he abused her. The pain from the beatings was so and she needed narcotic pain medication to survive.”
Deborah says she became addicted to the pain medication and is undergoing treatment. During her addiction counseling, she revealed the years of abuse. Authorities were contacted, and Randy now is serving time after having been charged and indicted on 12 counts of abuse.
“She is now before this court to force Randy to pay for what he has stolen from her,” the complaint states.
Deborah says the abuse she endured was “exceptionally horrific” if she did not comply with Randy’s demands.
“For example, Deborah has been handcuffed in the shed at times by defendant and left there with no food, water, or a way to use the restroom,” the complaint states. “Deborah was forced to perform oral sex on defendant in order for her to be able to do errands and daily chores. If she refused to perform the oral sex, she was beaten.
“The number of times that defendant has struck Deborah are incalculable. He has intentionally pushed her into objects and walls and hit and pushed her down. He has broken her arm in four places. Defendant has used his police issued night stick to beat Deborah. … Plaintiff had multiple injuries to her left eye, cheek, and temple. Her torso has been beaten so severely that from her shoulders to her waist have been entirely black, blue, and swollen. …
“Defendant would regularly kick Deborah in the knee to prevent her from walking. The repeated kicks caused such severe damage that Deborah was required to have a total knee replacement. In addition to her surgeries, the physical and sexual abuse required other doctor visits. But the defendant refused to allow her to apply for health insurance so that he could control what doctors she would see and when she would see them.”
Deborah also says he once held a handgun to her head and simulated pulling the trigger while saying, “I can pull the trigger any time I want.”
She says he also played Russian Roulette on her at other times, making sure she saw him put the bullet in the gun.
She says Randy used his position as a law enforcement officer as leverage, saying he could get away with abusing her and even killing her. She says he also tried to portray himself as “a perfect husband” to others.
Meanwhile, “defendant would force Deborah to go to bed every night at 5:00 PM simply because he said he did not want to see her face” and “physically assaulted and abused Deborah with no relief for two weeks nonstop simply because she decided to cut her hair in a way the Defendant did not like.”
Deborah says she still is fearful for her life and believes Randy will kill her and get away with it because he is a retired law enforcement officer as well as a United States Marine.
“Because of the defendant’s sexual, physical, and mental abuse, Deborah has PTSD, experiences daily symptoms consisting of nightmares and flashbacks of the events that took place from the in excess of twenty years’ abuse by defendant,” the complaint states.
Deborah accuses Randy of sexual assault, assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment.
She seeks compensatory damages for her permanent physical injuries, past and future pain and suffering and mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, humiliation, embarrassment, indignity, shame, economic damages, diminished earning capacity and future lost wages. She also seeks punitive damages as well as attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
Deborah is being represented by Teresa Toriseva and Joshua Miller of Toriseva Law in Wheeling as well as Amanda Alexander of Alexander Law Offices in Weirton. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Michael J. Olejasz.
Brooke Circuit Court case number 20-C-67