Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The 61-year-old Mossyrock man who returned to his home with an ax in violation of a no-contact order – because of a previous hours-long standoff there in which he fired several rounds including after deputies arrived – has been sentenced to two years in jail.

James C. Long

James C. Long was first arrested on April 3 after scaring his girlfriend and her mother out of the home on the 100 block of Naylor Road. Law enforcement officers eventually deployed pepper spray into the residence and SWAT members entered and took him into custody.

Long lived there with his girlfriend.

Charges in that case, all misdemeanors, were handled in Lewis County District Court.

Less than three weeks later, within hours of Long being released from jail, he was arrested after allegedly breaking through the back door of the home, wielding an ax and a screwdriver.

His girlfriend had two friends staying over, one of which intercepted Long and ended up with small cuts and scrapes.

For that, Long was charged in Lewis County Superior Court with felony assault and felony burglary as well as a violation of a court order.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead said today they made a deal in that case that gave Long eight months in jail. He made a so-called Alford plea on June 2 to  third-degree assault and residential burglary. He simply pleaded guilty to the court order violation.

The Alford plea means he believed if a jury heard the state’s evidence and believed it, they would find him guilty.

On Wednesday, he was sentenced in Lewis County Superior Court to eight months in jail. Halstead said the deal included that the sentence would run concurrently with whatever time he got in the District Court standoff case.

On Wednesday, in Lewis County District Court, the judge gave Long 364 days each for reckless endangerment and third-degree malicious mischief, with the time to run consecutively.

Long was given credit for 81 days already served. He is ordered to have no contact with his girlfriend for 10 years.

Until these cases, he had no criminal convictions.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Centralia man whose convictions for child sex abuse that put him in prison for 30 years were reversed, is back in the Lewis County Jail.

Lewis County prosecutors are preparing for a new trial for now 41-year-old Paulo Botello-Garcia.

Botello-Garcia was arrested early in 2012 after a 15-year-old girl’s mother found writings in the teen’s journal about incidents that had occurred in the past. He was convicted by a jury in Lewis County Superior Court of two counts of second-degree child molestation and two counts of second-degree rape of a child in early 2014.

The Washington State Court of Appeals found the trial court erred in admitting certain evidence and earlier this year remanded the case for a new trial.

It was a lengthy trial, said Joely O’Rourke who prosecuted the case.

O’Rourke has since left the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office and now serves as temporary defense attorney for individuals at their first court appearance. On Monday afternoon when Botello-Garcia was brought back before a judge, O’Rourke excused herself from the courtroom.

Botello-Garcia, who told Judge Richard Brosey he only spoke a little English, was accompanied at the defense table by only an interpreter.

Judge Brosey noted Botello-Garcia’s trial lawyer has died and asked if he needed a court appointed attorney. Botello-Garcia said he did and Centralia lawyer David Arcuri was assigned to represent him.

Since the case was tried before Judge James Lawler, the case will go back to him, Brosey said.

Court documents show the 2014 trial lasted at least six days. The offenses for which he was convicted occurred when the girl was 12 and 13 years old. They were members of the same household.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh argued the appeal. Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Bohm will be handling the case now, Beigh said today.

Botello-Garcia is scheduled for his next court hearing tomorrow.

Doneia A. Santiago is represented by private defense attorney Don Blair in Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Court documents in the case of the Mossyrock official arrested for theft from the city accounts indicate Clerk-Treasurer Doneia A. Santiago approached the mayor to tell him her husband inadvertently used the city credit card to make an approximately $3,600 payment to Central Mortgage.

Charging documents state Mayor Tom Meade questioned two ATM withdrawals during May for $100 and $200 by Santiago and then use of the city bank card to purchase fuel for her personal vehicle.

The total loss going back to January 2014 is $7,730.45, according to  prosecutors.

The mayor and the police chief met a week ago about the issue. Santiago has been placed on administrative leave.

She was arrested yesterday afternoon and booked into the Lewis County Jail. The 53-year-old Salkum woman was charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with first-degree theft.

She was handcuffed and outfitted in green jail garb when she appeared before a judge. Santiago is represented by Centralia attorney Don Blair.

The afternoon hearing focused on how much bail she should be required to post to be released pending a trial.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Bohm asked for $10,000, saying she was concerned Santiago and her husband might leave the country.

Blair told the judge his client is a lifelong Lewis County resident who’s lived at her current address at least nine years and had no intention of traveling anywhere. He indicated frustration with his attempts late last week to contact the police chief so she could turn herself in.

Judge Richard Brosey decided she could be released on a $10,000 unsecured bond.

The community of some 750 people employs just a very small number of people at city hall. Santiago worked as the city clerk and city treasurer.

The most recent year for which documents were readily available shows the city took in revenues of approximately $762,000 in 2014. The mayor hasn’t yet responded to requests for comment.

The Morton Police Department, which handles law enforcement services for the small central Lewis County city, conducted the investigation.

First-degree theft involves amounts in excess of $5,000.

Charging documents include the following information and allegations:

Santiago told the mayor the accidental payment on May 19 to the mortgage company was done by her husband and she wanted to repay the city. Police Chief Roger Morningstar contacted Security State Bank and was told Santiago’s explanation was incorrect, as the transaction was of the type requiring account and routing numbers to be manually entered into a computer system.

Santiago later said she didn’t have the $3,657.24 to pay back.

She also said the ATM withdrawals were her way of reimbursing herself for purchases she had made for the city. The mayor said the transactions were not permitted.

Mayor Meade also had concerns about the city’s Shell credit card and Santiago told him there were only about $600 of charges over the previous three years.

The police chief requested a copy of a video from the Mossy Mini from June 15, showing Santiago using the city card to buy fuel for her own vehicle.

The police chief obtained statements from Shell and found $1,448.48 in unauthorized transactions between January 2014 and February 2015. They also showed $2,626.73 from June 2015 to June 2016.

Santiago’s arraignment is scheduled for the morning of July 7.
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For background, read “Mossyrock city official jailed for alleged theft” from Monday June 27, 2016, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Mossyrock’s city clerk was arrested yesterday afternoon for first-degree theft and misappropriation by a public official.

Doneia A. Santiago was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

The Morton Police Department, which handles law enforcement services for the small central Lewis County city, is investigating.

Morton Police Chief Roger Morningstar said this morning he couldn’t yet discuss the case, because it is ongoing.

He said he began looking into it as soon he was informed of an issue by Mossyrock Mayor Thomas Meade.

“Mayor Meade was very quick to get on board as soon as he was notified by the bank,” Morningstar said.

The community of some 750 people employs just three individuals full time at city hall, according to the most recent report from the Washington State Auditor’s Office. It operated on revenues of approximately $762,000 in 2014.

Santiago was listed as the clerk-treasurer in the report issued on Nov. 16 of last year. The 53-year-old resides in Salkum.

The accountability audit report on the city’s compliance and safeguarding of public resources stated that in most areas audited for the 2014 calendar year, the city was in compliance.

“However, we noted certain matters that we communicated to city management in a letter dated November 10, 2015, related to cost allocation,” the audit’s authors wrote. “We appreciate the city’s commitment to resolving those matters.”

Santiago is tentatively scheduled to appear this afternoon at 4 p.m. in Lewis County Superior Court.

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By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A retired firefighter who’s never even had a speeding ticket found himself visited by members of three law enforcement agencies at his Toledo area home after his alleged instant messages showed up amid an FBI investigation into a couple arrested for child sex crimes.

The Seattle Police Department today said investigators with its Internet Crimes Against Children task force discovered he had offered his dog up online for sexual encounters and had exchanges with the couple in which he said he liked to watch adults sexually abusing children, offered to set up an encounter with a young child, and later asked for, and received, a picture of the husband’s genitals.

In the chat, he allegedly asked many questions about the man’s daughter, according to court documents.

ICAC detectives obtained a search warrant for his Yahoo account and traced the email and messages back to the 58-year-old Toledo man.

Investigators soon discovered he had also posted elsewhere online, allegedly offering to provide his German shepherd to another person for a sexual encounter.

“He included a detailed description of his dog’s genitals, and bragged about previously coordinating a sexual encounter between a neighbor and his dog, which he said was witnessed by another young child,” a Seattle Police Department writer stated in SPD’s Blotter today.

A detective who examined his emails supplied one of them to local prosecutors which is said to be his response to a Craigslist advertisement titled, “Phone sex about your family member-I call you- m4m.”

Part of his alleged response: “Hey there, love taboo talk and chat, I have a fantasy about my niece who is a little girl … ”

At about 5:45 a.m. on Monday, detectives with ICAC were assisted by members of the Toledo Police Department and the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office in “executing a search warrant” at the home on the 1800 block of state Route 505 in Toledo.

Wayde G. Rice was interviewed and his computer devices examined, according to court documents. An image of child pornography is described in the affidavit of probable cause filed in Lewis County Superior Court.

Rice was arrested, booked into the Lewis County Jail and charged with one count of first-degree possession of depictions of minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The offense has a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

When Rice was brought before a judge on Tuesday afternoon, handcuffed and dressed in green jail garb, lawyers discussed what his bail should be.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Intern Amber Caulfield noted the defendant has no criminal convictions in his past.

Temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke told the judge her client is a longtime Lewis County resident, retired after some 30 years of fighting fires in California.

“He’s never even had a speeding ticket,” O’Rourke said.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey allowed Rice release on a $25,000 unsecured bond. The judge ordered him to stay off the Internet.

According to charging documents, Rice spoke to a detective after his Miranda warnings.

He said the conversation with the man the FBI was investigating was just fantasy, that he didn’t believe “Rick” was real.

“Wayde stated he only has fantasies and he would never act on them,” Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Bohm wrote in charging documents.

He denied having any images of child sexual exploitation, but stated he had seen some when the Internet first came out, Bohm wrote.

The SPD Blotter author noted that detectives learned he had recently relinquished ownership of his dogs.

“They are now investigating whether any of the animals, including the German shepherd, were abused and are working to ensure they are well cared for,” the author wrote.

Rice, though O’Rourke, told the judge he plans to retain an attorney. His arraignment is scheduled for June 30.

Updated at 8:57 a.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Responders were called overnight for a gunshot victim behind a business on the 600 block of West Main Street in Chehalis.

“Police were already on the scene, the male subject was with them behind the Dairy Bar,” Chehalis Firefighter Pennie McCarty said.

He was transported to the airport and airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, McCarty said.

Chehalis Police Department Deputy Chief Randy Kaut said he was briefed by an officer by phone about 3 o’clock this morning.

The man was conscious and talking and had a gunshot wound to his abdomen and stomach area, Kaut said. There was nobody else around and a shotgun was recovered, he said.

“It appears it was self inflicted by the person who called,” Kaut said. “At this point, I don’t know his condition.”

Kaut said he believed the 30-year-old Doty resident worked security for a fenced area nearby, and was staying in a camper there.

Police today will be trying to figure out what happened and why, Kaut said.

Lewis County Communications call log summary indicates police and fire were dispatched at 2:54 a.m.

This is a developing news story. Lewis County Sirens will follow up to try to learn the man’s condition. His name was not released.

•••

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – On the same day two weeks ago when Joseph W. Rogerson went before a judge charged with third-degree assault of a child, prosecutors sent off a summons for his wife and filed the same charge against her for an alleged incident from January.

Diana M. Rogerson, 38, appeared before a judge this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court.

The cases are unrelated but it’s the same alleged victim; her 7-year-old daughter.

Charging documents state Diana M. Rogerson’s ex-husband called law enforcement on Jan. 31 after his girlfriend discovered, while helping with a bath, a bruise on the child’s left buttock.

The girl’s older brother told the deputy his mom got angry with his sister because she refused to say prayers at dinnertime, took her in the bathroom and spanked her and then took her back in the bathroom and spanked her with a belt. Court documents indicate the incident occurred four to six days previous.

The bruise appeared to be darker on the ends and red in the center, the deputy noted.

The older brother said his mother commented she had broken a blood vessel in her hand from the spanking.

Charging documents go on to relate that Diana M. Rogerson told deputies she didn’t know how her daughter got the bruise, but said her hands hurt when she spanks her daughter.

She reportedly said her daughter had been disrespectful and fought to get away from being spanked, and that she retrieved a one-inch belt and folded it twice before spanking her.

The case has been assigned to Child Protective Services. The children are now living with their father in Toledo based on a temporary protection order secured on June 6.

The Rogersons live in Pe Ell.

Third-degree assault of a child is a class C felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.

The allegation is bodily harm accompanied by substantial pain that extended for a period sufficient to cause considerable suffering to a child younger than 13 years old.

Her husband Joseph W. Rogerson, 37, was charged on June 6 with third-degree assault of a child for allegedly punching his 7-year-old step-daughter in the arm when she got in between a physical dispute involving him and her mother.

The felony charge put at risk his deferred prosecution on last summer’s DUI, related to a head-on crash in Onalaska that left three teenagers dead. Law enforcement’s investigation found he was not to blame, as he was traveling in his own lane.

Diana M. Rogerson reportedly also told deputies she and her husband have been under a lot of stress as a result of the car accident.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey set her bail with a $10,000 unsecured bond and told her to return on June 30 for her arraignment.

Judge Brosey commented in court about the difference between the two cases.

“This one has the potential defense of reasonable parental discipline,” he said. “Whereas the other one does not.”

Outside the courtroom today, Diana M. Rogerson said the assault allegations against both she and her husband are coming from her ex-husband.
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For background, read “Driver from last summer’s deadly Onalaska wreck back in court” from Tuesday June 7, 2016, here