Lewis County Sirens.com

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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.

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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

Grace E. Barker consults with her lawyer Shane O’Rourke in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The judge went along with the plea agreement that gave a Mossyrock woman just over two years in prison for stabbing the father of her baby, instead as much as 15 years behind bars had she gone to trial and been convicted.

Grace E. Barker, 26, was accompanied by her defense attorney Shane O’Rourke yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court.

O’Rourke and Lewis County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher spoke of some of the reasons behind the deal.

O’Rourke said he had been working toward an argument of self defense, but it was imperfect and incomplete given an allegation of substance abuse and his client’s inability to recall. At one point they seriously considered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Prosecutors wrote in charging documents that Brian Slater was trying to get Barker to leave his Mossyrock home when she picked up what he has said was a 10-inch stiletto knife. He said he armed himself with a knife and when he threw his down thinking she had done the same, she stabbed him in the throat.

At the time of her arrest on April 6, Barker was homeless although Slater sometimes let her stay at his residence.

Meagher told the judge the victim has made a full recovery.

The original charge of first-degree assault was dropped to a charge of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon.

Judge James Lawler yesterday afternoon said he would follow the attorneys’ recommendations. Barker chose not to make a statement on her own behalf.

“You are very lucky that this is what’s happening today,” Lawler told her. “You’re lucky Mr. Slater didn’t die, you’re lucky Mr. O’Rourke was able to work out this deal for you.”

The judge sentenced her to 26 months in prison and 18 months of supervision after her release. He also made a finding that would require she be evaluated for substance abuse and follow up with treatment.

Meagher said outside the courtroom his reading of the defense’s therapists findings were that Barker’s situation was chemically induced.

“She has a terrible meth addiction,” Meagher said.

Part of the reason behind the deal was because prosecutors took the victim’s wishes into account, he said.

“There’s a lot going on when we do these plea bargains,” Meagher said. “There may have been a self defense claim; probably not enough to get over the hurdle, but we don’t want to take that chance.”
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For background, read “Mossyrock argument: Two knives, one airlifted, other arrested” from Thursday April 7, 2016, here