Tell Them You Love Me: Who is Anna Stubblefield's ex-husband and where is he now?

Netflix's new documentary film Tell Them You Love Me explores the true story of the case of Anna Stubblefield, convicted in 2015 for sexually assaulting Derrick Johnson, a man with cerebral palsy. Directed by Nick August-Perna, the film sheds light on the incident and the nationwide debate that followed it.

Anna's ex-husband, a tuba player named Roger Stubblefield, was also involved in the scandalous case and its court testimonies. He is now divorced from Anna, has custody of their two children, and is remarried.

Tell Them You Love Me focuses on multiple points of view in the case, from Derrick's family to interviews of Anna herself, probing deeper into the story. The official summary of the film reads:

"A professor has a relationship with a nonverbal man with cerebral palsy. Their affair leads to a criminal trial over disability and consent. The film shows interviews and footage presenting both perspectives."

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Who is Roger Stubblefield from Tell Them You Love Me, and where he is now?

Roger Stubblefield, ex-husband of Anna Stubblefield from Tell Them You Love Me (Image via LinkedIn)

Roger Stubblefield is a composer, conductor, and tuba player who has been a part of many prestigious symphony orchestras. He married his then-wife Anna Stubblefield in 1989, and the two were happily married with two children. Anna rose to become a tenured professor at Rutgers University.

During this time, she developed a relationship with Derrick Johnson, a non-verbal man with cerebral palsy, known as D.J. in the media. After Anna revealed to D.J.'s family that she was in love with him and they had been intimate, the case resulted in a court trial and sparked a discussion on race, disability, and consent.

In court, Anna Stubblefield testified that she was ready to leave her husband and children to start a new life with D.J. because of her love. Roger and Anna sought a divorce in 2014.

After the divorce, Roger married Kimberly Boller in 2021, a senior director for science affairs at the American Psychological Association. The couple live in Philadelphia with Roger's two children and are known to travel often for his concerts.

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What is the story of the Anna Stubblefield case in Tell Them You Love Me?

Tell Them You Love Me is based on the true story of Anna Stubblefield, a formerly tenured professor and researcher at Rutgers University. She had an affair with a non-verbal Black man with cerebral palsy, Derrick Johnson (D.J.).

In 2009, Anna (aged 41) met D.J. (aged 30) through his brother John, who enrolled in one of her classes at Rutgers. The lecture topic was about how a technique called 'facilitated communication' could help people with disabilities type and express themselves, which John hoped might benefit his brother.

Tell Them You Love Me shows how Anna worked with D.J. for over two years, using her hand underneath his elbow to support his arm and help him point at words and pictures. She even used the same technique over a hand-held keyboard, a supposed sign that D.J. could type sentences and was extremely intelligent.

In 2011, Anna met with John and D.J.'s mother, Daisy, to tell them they were in love and had engaged in intimate activities in Anna's Rutgers office. While Anna tried to convince the family that D.J. had given his consent on the keyboard, they asserted that a man with cerebral palsy, who could barely move on his own, could not have given consent to this. The case caught media attention when it blew up into a criminal trial and a felony conviction for Anna in 2015.

Anna Stubblefield was sentenced to 22 months behind bars. After her release, she lives away from her ex-husband and children in a location undisclosed to the public. In the interviews for Tell Them You Love Me, Anna continues to insist that her relationship with D.J. was formed out of love, not coercion or abuse.

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Tell Them You Love Me is now available for streaming on Netflix.