WOOD COUNTY, Texas (East Texas News) – A Mineola man was arrested Thursday after a woman reported that her former landlord had sexually assaulted her.
Roy Elmo Oliphant, 68, of Mineola, was released Friday from the Wood County Jail after posting a $30,000 bond on an arrest warrant charging him with sexual assault.
On June 4, 2025, a Wood County deputy met with a woman at UT Health East Texas in Tyler after she reported to staff that Oliphant had invited her to dinner and sexually assaulted her while she was preparing the meal, according to an affidavit obtained by KLTV.
The woman told the deputy that Oliphant began undressing her as she helped him remove the lid from a plastic container. She agreed to undergo a forensic medical examination after he became aroused, according to the affidavit.
The next day, the deputy met with the woman again to complete her complaint. She told him that Oliphant was her former landlord and that she had known him for about three years, according to the affidavit.
During the assault, the woman said Oliphant told her: “Just say no. It will arouse you and make everything happen faster,” according to the affidavit.
She also stated that Oliphant told her the assault would end if she told him to stop, but she was too afraid to say no or scream, according to the affidavit.
Later, investigators met with Oliphant at his home, located at 2000 County Road 2339 in Wood County, where he claimed that the woman had come to his house and that he was going to pay her to empty out a vehicle, according to the affidavit.
After an officer informed Oliphant that the woman had reported being invited to his home, he responded that he had invited her to dinner “a hundred times” and refused to discuss the woman’s allegations, according to the affidavit.
“That is not a conversation I’m going to have,” Oliphant told the officers, according to the affidavit.
Authorities obtained an arrest warrant for Oliphant on March 11, according to court records.
Accused of a second-degree felony, Oliphant could face a prison term of two to twenty years and fines of up to $10,000 if convicted.
