The troubled past of teen charged in fatal Highland Park crash

Carly Rousso said she was afraid to sleep. After the Highland Park teenager was attacked by a pit bull three years ago, she had frequent nightmares in which an animal — often a dog but always something with teeth — would attack her.

She switched schools; her grades fell. She reported hallucinations and suicidal thoughts, according to court records filed in a lawsuit against the pit bull's owner.

Last week, Rousso, 18, was charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence of an intoxicating compound after a crash that killed a 5-year-old girl in Highland Park and injured her mother and two brothers.

On Tuesday — the same day the funeral was held for the girl, Jaclyn Santos-Sacramento — Rousso was briefly jailed before she was released on bond with a curfew and an agreement not to drive or consume any intoxicants. During a court appearance, her lawyer also revealed that she is receiving outpatient treatment, though he did not specify for what.

But court records reveal that Rousso has had past struggles with substance use and emotional problems that stretch back years. Her family claimed in a lawsuit against the dog owner that the attack led to many of her troubles. She also was later cited for marijuana possession and as a result participated in a 12-step rehab program, court records show. The information gathered from court records reveals a more complex portrait of the woman charged in the Labor Day crash.

Through a family spokesman, Rousso's parents declined to comment about the pit bull attack or their daughter's past struggles.

On May 1, 2009, Rousso was visiting a friend's home in Highland Park when a pit bull her friend's brother was walking on a leash suddenly attacked her without provocation, according to the lawsuit.

"The next thing she knew there were jaws in her face and she was screaming," she told a therapist, according to paperwork filed in the suit. The dog bit her head and face and clawed her body, the suit said.

Police confirmed the attack at the time, saying that her friend's 17-year-old brother had just brought the dog home the night before and that the victim required hundreds of stitches. The city issued a citation for violating city ordinances regarding biting dogs.

As a result of the attack, then-Mayor Michael Belsky called for a citywide ban on the "unpredictable" and "lethal" pit bulls, though such a law was never enacted.

After the attack, Rousso said she began having nightmares, hearing barks and occasionally seeing a dog outside her window, the lawsuit said. She began seeing a psychologist and taking Prozac for depression and suicidal thoughts, according to the court paperwork.

A year after the incident, the scars on her face, head and arms had begun to fade, but she said in court records that they still turned bright red in the summer and were sensitive and painful and needed follow-up surgery.

Rousso's therapist said in a deposition that Rousso had post-traumatic stress disorder. She said Rousso made the gymnastics team but left it early because of a continuing fear of dogs, hallucinations and hypervigilance about covering and protecting her back. She had difficulty concentrating and "would readily become unglued," the report said.

Despite her problems, Rousso volunteered to work with children and helped her mother at her art gallery, her therapist said.

In November 2011, the case was settled for $200,000, according to court documents.

The Roussos' attorney in that suit, Kevin O'Connor, verified that Carly Rousso needed surgery for extensive scars.

"She had a horrific dog bite attack," he said. "It had a terrible impact on her. It was a sad, terrible situation."

Rousso transferred from Highland Park High School to Deerfield High School because she said there were "mean people" at Highland Park who taunted her over the scars on her face, according to an evaluation by David Hartman, a forensic neuropsychologist hired by the dog's owners. Her grades also deteriorated after the attack.

But Hartman was skeptical. He noted that Rousso went on a monthlong vacation to Europe with other teens the summer after the attack, and from her pictures seemed to be having a good time. He wrote that hallucinations are not typical of PTSD, and there was no mention of other common symptoms of the disorder. Without objective psychological testing, he said her claims of symptoms were not enough to merit the diagnosis.

Before the dog attack ever happened, Hartman noted, referring to Rousso's medical records, she had a pathological fear of clowns that precipitated a panic attack. He even questioned the extent of her scars, writing that her photos "do not show significant areas of facial deformity."

On Feb. 4, 2010, after the dog attack but before the settlement, Rousso was placed under court supervision after being cited with possession of cannabis, according to court records.

She started treatment at Resurrection Behavioral Health in Lake Bluff less than two weeks afterward and completed an intensive outpatient program two months later, attending 12-step meetings in that time, according to court records.

Dana Wagner, her adolescent program coordinator at Resurrection, described Rousso as a "model patient" who "maintained sobriety through some difficult times" and who was missed by others in the program.

Robert Baizer, a personal injury attorney representing Jaclyn's family, said Tuesday he felt the focus now should be on the victims in this case rather than Rousso.

"At this time, it's pretty hard for me to have sympathy for her," he said, "when you see the grief that Jaclyn's mother and father are having, when you see the father lean over to kiss his baby before they close the casket.

"Anything in her background doesn't excuse or explain what happened."