One reason Rachel Dolezal’s parents may have outed her as the white woman she is—since she’s been successfully masquerading as a black woman for years—is the role she may have played in her older brother’s standing trial in the sexual assault of a young black child, the Washington Post reports. Joshua Dolezal is Rachel Dolezal’s only biological sibling—the rest are adopted.
That the Dolezal family is currently estranged and pitted against one another is an understatement. People have wondered why Lawrence and Ruthanne Dolezal—Rachel Dolezal’s parents—would put their daughter through so much public scrutiny and ridicule by blowing the lid off her lies about her racial identity.
It turns out that it may be a form of payback. Lawrence and Ruthanne Dolezal believe that Rachel Dolezal orchestrated the sexual assault allegations pending against her 39-year-old brother, Joshua, the Post explains. The allegations also put Lawrence and Ruthanne Dolezal in a bad light.
Joshua Dolezal is accused of sexually assaulting a young child in 2001 or 2002. The child, an African American, was 6 or 7 years old at the time of the alleged assault. The alleged victim’s identity was not revealed in the affidavit. The alleged victim came forward and reported the assault in 2013 because Joshua Dolezal has a young daughter, and the alleged victim did not want Joshua Dolezal to abuse his daughter the same way the alleged victim was reportedly abused.
According to an affidavit, Joshua Dolezal forced the alleged victim to perform oral sex on him on two occasions. Joshua Dolezal also performed oral sex on the alleged victim on seven or eight occasions, according to the affidavit.
The assault allegedly took place in Lawrence and Ruthanne Dolezal’s house. According to reports, they believe that Rachel Dolezal helped kick up dust about the alleged assault so that she could gain custody of her black adopted brother, Izaiah. Izaiah now lives with Rachel Dolezal in Spokane, Wash., and he is being raised as her son, Lawrence and Ruthanne Dolezal claim.
Court documents also reveal more of the Dolezal family’s odd relationship with black people and black culture. According to an affidavit, Joshua Dolezal would show the alleged victim photos of naked African women because Joshua Dolezal was allegedly “turned on by the black body and was curious about black women sexually,” the affidavit claims.
Joshua Dolezal’s sexual assault trial will begin in August.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story identified the victim as male. The gender of the victim has not been confirmed.
Read more at the Washington Post.