This Part Is Done

Patrick withdrew his appeal. It is over. Done.

The blog will stay as is! 

This part of my story is done. I have been able to outline what our family went through at the hands of a pedophile and corrupt church leaders. I have been able to show how keeping secret sexual abuse allows the abuser to continue sexually abusing other innocent people. I have tried to show that it is not appropriate to handle such a serious issue with prayer alone and you should reach beyond the church leaders for help and guidance. I believe I was able to warn families in the Gig Harbor/Tacoma area about a sexual predator in their midst, Patrick D. Rojas. 

Eddie Rojas is still on the run with a felony warrant. There are still victims of Patrick that have NOT seen any justice. There are many individuals that were part of our our story that are still healing from all the betrayal and devastation. I will only post if there is pertinent information such as additional crimes committed by Patrick, if Eddie is arrested, or other relevant local stories that catch my eye. By no means am I done in my pursuit to bring awareness to the epidemic of childhood sexual abuse. Most likely the venue will change. Time will tell. 

Thank you for all the prayers and encouragement over the years! And please pass on the link to my blog if you believe Our Story can help someone or if you know someone that is likely to run in the same circle as the Rojas family. I will keep tabs on the blog and can be reached at daniellelynnschneider@gmail.com

Character Reference Letters

If you remember, I have referred to -letters of character reference- that a variety of family members, church members, and some church leaders in our community wrote on behalf of Patrick. These were written to say what a great guy Patrick was and what an asset to our community he was and that it would be a waste for him to serve real time in prison for just a moment of poor judgment. These letters boasted that Patrick was repentant. The people who wrote the letters claimed to have already seen a change for the better in Patrick.

There was an Eagle Scout who claimed to be an excellent judge of character. He eloquently stated his personal relationship with Patrick. He wrote a very persuasive letter to the judge requesting that leniency be extended to Patrick. There was also a leader from the Heritage Homeschool Organization that wrote a letter on behalf of Patrick using the organization's letterhead and signing with his official title. I could go on and on.

None of these people ever contacted us to verify information they were selectively given by the Rojas family and the leaders of PHF. Nor did they bother to contact the prosecutor or detective involved in our case. One thing that I still don't understand to this day is that, for some reason, Patrick and his lawyer requested that the contents of the letters be sealed. We were able to read each individual letter in the prosecutors office, but haven't been able to attain actual copies because they aren't in the public file.

People would argue that these individuals made a simple judgment error in writing these letters. Fine. But that doesn't take away the consequences of their errors. After the deceit of the Rojas family was revealed and after Patrick was shown to be deviant and dangerous, only one individual felt compelled to write a retraction and send it to the courts. Out of 30+ letters, only one wrote a retraction. Patrick David Rojas, a convicted level-two sex offender who admitted to having sexual interaction with animals, who admitted to peeping in on mothers and daughters in bathrooms, and who admitted to other victims including a baby.

This has always bothered me!


What I hope you will learn from this is to be very careful of you will vouch for. Especially, when pleading for leniency for a crime committed. The letters do influence the judge. Ask questions. Contact the detective involved in the case. Download the public legal documents and read exactly what the person is being charged with. You can learn a lot sometimes just by reading the charging documents. Certain crimes, in order to be committed successfully, take deceiving others around the criminal. Don't be fooled into supporting a sexual predator.   


*From "This Has Always Bothered Me" post.

Pedophiles Job

You may wonder how we missed that our child was being groomed and had been sexually molested. A pedophile grooms the entire family and gains trust of everyone around the targeted child. It's almost ALWAYS someone the family knows and loves.

"People who are predators are really good at seducing children. This is their job. This is what they do. If they do it well, you are seduced before you know it. You don't know that it's seduction, that's the whole point..." ~from a TV special~

A church is ideal grounds to groom families. Our church was set-up to be very family oriented. Most of the families home schooled and integrating all ages is the norm. Pedophiles are typically patient and watch for vulnerabilities in the targeted family.

Our family was particularly vulnerable. Just in a years time prior to Patrick's crimes against our child, there was cancer in our immediate family, we had a new born, and moved twice.

The Rojas family was always there to help us. Patrick started tutoring one of our children and taking him on as a "little brother in Christ" type mentoring. This is every parents dream. A seemly Godly young man taking time out of his life to encourage another whom is younger. Our family welcomed the involvement. This is how Patrick gained access to the victim child.

Anything that might of normally been a "red flag" was easily explained away because of how "Godly, caring, and humble," the Rojas family was. I did have some "gut" feelings but didn't pay attention and act on them. I thought my "paranoia" was born out of my own life experiences. I will never ignore my gut again.Our children were not able to go on sleep overs (with rare exceptions) for the simple fact we didn't want them vulnerable to sexual abuse. Our kids were almost always supervised around other children for the same reason. Because of my background I am always suspicious of others.

There were a few times we knew Patrick left our child a note that read "Smile Jesus loves you" (with a smiley face) and would leave a few pieces of candy. I would tell myself, "How thoughtful, Patrick knew that this child would feel left out because they weren't going and doing x,y or z like their sibling was." Perfectly logical, he's from a family with 13 siblings who are taught to think of others. He also didn't just single out the victim, he would mix it up and sometimes give treats to all the kids. Patrick was always the "thoughtful guy."

Does too good to be true come to your mind? 

Let's not forget that he had help from his parents, Eddie and Kathy Rojas along with Jairus, all of whom had knowledge of Patrick's pedophilia behaviors long before we reported the crimes against our family.

*Parts are from the original "Questions" post.

First Piece of Evidence

*Retelling from the "Discovery" post

We were having company come over the following night so our family was tidying up our home. The family we were having over ironically enough was the Rojas family. Anyway, Eric went into one of the rooms to check it out and upon inspection he found a letter inside the pillow case on one of the beds. The reaction from the child was strange so Eric came to me and we read it together.

My heart sank...there was a small torn note around the outside of the letter and here is some of what was written, "...best to tear the letter up when done reading and responding to it." ..."other notes I gave you should also be disposed of or given back to me." "This is a risky place for a mailbox....think of another place....put it there if you know I am coming or if your whole family is leaving."

Then we opened up the letter which was written on college lined paper and was two and 1/2 full pages, written 12/06......the paragraph that made me literally sick to my stomach was;

"I know that I didn't just offend you, I realize that I hurt you very deeply by what I did. I took from you something I can't ever give back......I did it because I love you. I assumed you loved me....but I guess I thought wrong".....

"......I also want to apologize for reading your diary.....since I read yours I feel as though you should read mine......"

".......I want to encourage you to grow closer to the Lord. He is more faithful than I could ever be......He has promised to be with you and never forsake you! :) "

"....P.P.S. Sometimes I feel like giving you a little gift (like gum or candy) because I want to bless you. But recently you haven't been very receptive of my efforts...."

We talked to the our child who stated their memory was very dream like and thought that Patrick kissed them.

Patrick was 22 years old and our child was 11.

What?  A kiss?  When?  How?  Really?    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Going Forward (Starting At The Beginning)

The appeal process is going forward. I saw it coming. Unfortunately, appealing the decision to dismiss his case is very characteristic to Patrick's behavior, thus far. But I was hopeful that the appeals court would dismiss his request to review the ruling all together....We are now waiting for Patrick to submit his briefing, at this point he is representing himself.

 I have been considering re-posting our story because there is still a wanted felon on the run, there are additional victims, of his, that have not seen justice for the crimes they endured, and a level two sex offender living freely in Port Orchard, Washington that is trying to get me to stop telling my story. To refresh your memory, I will be re-posting OUR STORY from the beginning. This is a great time to post a link to my blog and raise awareness!

 The following is from my initial post that started this blog. At the time I wrote this I had no idea I would have so much to say, that I would eventually receive tips and actually locate Eddie Rojas and family or that the actual sex offender of my child would have the audacity to sue me for telling OUR STORY.

 *I made a few minor changes to the original post: "How Can You Help?:

 We need your help in locating someone who is in hiding along with innocent minor children. There is an arrest warrant in the name of Francis Edward Rojas, AKA (Eddie Rojas) for "witness tampering." The warrant is out of Kitsap County court in Washington State, it is a nation wide warrant. Just prior to going into hiding, Eddie, was the pastor at "Peninsula Household of Faith Community Church" in Port Orchard, WA which is affiliated with the "Household of Faith Community Church's."

 In January 2007 we discovered that his adult son (whom lived under Eddie's roof) was a pedophile. I will attempt to outline the events that lead to Eddie taking his wife and 10 children into hiding, why there is a warrant for his arrest, and why you should help locate him. Our family has used all available legal channels and had hired a private detective to try and locate this man and haven't successfully found Eddie. I have reservations about using the internet but the pro's out weigh the con's....I need to know that I did not leave any reasonable possibility unexplored.

 This will be an emotional blog with a subject matter that is heinous but I can't shake the feeling that we may succeed in finding a wanted man with a felony warrant and bring healing to so many others. I have a large family and as time allows I will be posting more information, pictures, possible "hot" spots where Eddie may be in hiding along with more of our story.

 Check back to see how our REAL life story unfolds....

What They Really Wanted

Days later, after the meeting regarding the conference, there was a Men's meeting at someone's house in the church. Eric received a phone call from Dave Barrueto. It started with some small talk and led into Dave asking Eric if he or our eldest son would be attending the meeting. Eric said he hadn't planned on attending the meeting. The elder went on to make some encouraging comments about how great it would be to have him there. The conversation ended.

After the phone conversation Eric pondered going to the meeting but just couldn't muster himself. It was a good thing he didn't go because we found out later that evening that Patrick actually showed up at this meeting to apologize to the men.

In Dave's conversation with Eric, he never mentioned that Patrick would be attending the meeting. No one other than the elders knew Patrick was going to show up at the meeting. What if Eric would have changed his mind and taken our eldest son to the meeting? Why did Dave have to be so passive and sneaky about something so important to us and something we had just agreed upon days earlier? Communication! Remember, look at what they do, not what they say!

I believe it was the very next night that Eric called Jim Cameron and officially said we were leaving the church. Jim's immediate response was,"Could you give that to me in writing?" I wanted to swear again! If they had it in writing that we were not attending the church, then Patrick could attend again. (There was a court order in effect that stated that Patrick couldn't attend the same church as our family.) Remember, Patrick's father was still the pastor of our church. "Eddie hadn't done anything wrong," so biblically he didn't need to step down as pastor, was the thinking.

The church leaders finally had what they REALLY wanted: Patrick back. That way, they could pretend that nothing had happened.

We never sent the letter stating we had left the church.

Another Meeting

By this point, Eric and I and two of our children were in therapy. It's a good thing! It was great for both Eric and I to be able to go to someone not connected in any way so that we could sort through our emotions and sort through how we interpreted others actions. Expensive but necessary! This was a vital part of the road to recovery and healing. Recovery from cult-like thinking and healing from all the betrayals.

When we arrived home from the Heritage Home Educators of Washington Conference, we made some phone calls and asked for a meeting with the elders, the Rojas's, and some other couples. We wanted them to see first-hand how we were being treated. (Another weird thing in all of this was that if someone didn't hear or see something first hand, "it wasn't to be fully believed. It was considered gossip.")


This meeting was held at a neutral home. After we left the meeting, Eric and I were almost certain we were done with the church. In no way were they concerned for our victimized child or sensitive to us as the parents. We were glad that the others in the room were able to see the elders and their demeanor and attitudes toward us. They were able to witness Eddie and his tirade about the non biblical therapy Patrick was having to sit through and the Bible study he was responding so well to. The only apology we received was from an oppressed Kathy Rojas who said," If she would have known we were attending the conference they wouldn't have had Patrick attend with their family." I wanted to say,"Whatever, you know we go every year." I was told from a third-party, Kathy knew we were attending . I just looked at her. Eddie quickly redirected the conversation. At that point I had stopped listening.

Everything ended with the basic sentiments that Dave and Jim were doing the "best they could" (this was a regular statement made in defense of the elders) and now finally understood that they needed to be more sensitive and over-communicate with us regarding Patrick. It was specifically mentioned that Patrick wouldn't just show up anywhere we might be. That one of the elders would notify Eric if Patrick would be at a gathering or meeting we would possibly be at. Remember this is a fairly small church and everyone is intertwined with each other. Some in the room felt like it was a positive meeting. As if all the previous passive preferences for Patrick by the elders and Eddie (the pastor) were a huge misunderstanding and it was all cleared up now.

On the other hand, Eric and I had the sense that the elders and the Rojas's didn't get any of it. They didn't want to even consider the fact that Patrick was a predator, even though the Rojas's secretly knew he'd had other victims. They didn't want to admit that he was even a threat, even though the elders knew the full details of what he had done to our child. They found it hard to grasp that we didn't even want to visually see Patrick, even if it was only from across a room full of people. They didn't understand why we couldn't just all gather together and worship God and act as if things were fine, because you know Patrick was repentant so it was all suppose to be good now.

The Elders

Picture of Dave Barrueto.


The elders knew details of the full extent in which our child was sexually molested by Patrick!

From the previous post I explained that two days after discovering that our child had been sexually molested the elders had a meeting with Eddie and Patrick Rojas. The elders spent the day (literally) with them and came over to our home that evening.

We had asked a couple in the church to come and be a witness to the meeting (the husband was out of town) but the wife came. The elders, Dave Barrueto and Jim Cameron,basically came to see how we were and told us that they had been in contact with other pastors to get advice and that they had contacted a lawyer to find out their legal liability.

I remember them explaining that because we had reported the crime, they had no legal obligation to report it as well. That since it is in the "states" hands they were not going to talk about the case with us. They wanted to know how they could help us in the process of healing, forgiving, and reconciliation. Our friend that was with us has a background working in sexual assault centers. She directly asked the elders if there was any information that came out of their private meeting that we (the parents of the victim) should know? Any new information at all.

Jim Cameron was at the original meeting and knew exactly what Patrick had admitted to doing to our child in front of Eric and I. The elders looked at each other and said,"no, nothing to add." They reminded us they were going to stay out of the legal stuff.

Approximately 2 1/2weeks after our initial discovery of the abuse and the elders private meeting with Patrick , Jim Cameron, was interviewed by the sheriff detective working on our case. Jim Cameron ends his statement to the sheriff with, "in his opinion Patrick wanted to stay pure, but wanted to know what it felt like to kiss ....... and it was just the wrong place and wrong age."

We received a copy of Jim Cameron's statement well after Patrick's sentencing was over. When I saw that Jim Cameron minimized the crime in his statement and in my opinion, he even lies by omission, I will have to admit my heart filled with hate.

This man along with Eddie and Dave Barrueto knew everything....he knew that we as the victims parents didn't know what had really been done to our child. He and the others in authority allowed the church congregation to believe what happened was "only a kiss" and "just inappropriate affections."

A grown man (22yrs old), goes into a minors (under 12yrs old), bedroom at night and sexually molests them....and his statement is, ".....just the wrong place and wrong age."Who was this elder protecting? Certainly not our child, the victim!

It was not for six more months until we would learn actually what happened to our child. Six months the elders let us believe "it was only a kiss" (which by the way....we never minimized. From day one we considered even a kiss from a 22yr old to be sexual abuse and so does the state of Washington!) Six months! If you remember from an earlier post our child had a "dream like" memory. The memory was very minimal and the elders along with Patrick and his parents knew that. The elders knew they did not need to legally report the crime, so they did not.

The state had no reason to believe nor did they have proof our child had been molested beyond a kiss and groomed by a pedophile. So, they entered a plea agreement to avoid trial (to spare the need for our child to testify.) In an earlier post I outlined his sentencing and the conditions. Not only did these men (Eddie, Dave Barrueto, and Jim Cameron) influence the outcome of the charges filed by their silence but they greatly influenced a congregation to support a seriously dangerous pedophile. Somehow, the elders were able to gain sympathy and support from the congregation for Patrick and his "innocent" parents.

Patrick was able to gather well over 30 letters of support (asking the judge to be merciful) stating that Patrick had such outstanding character, he was an asset to our community, repentant, even statements that had the audacity to boast that Patrick had taken responsibility for his crime.

It appeared that the elders didn't have any real concerns about Patrick being a predator. I believe even knowing all the details of what Patrick actually did to our child, the elders still believe "It was only inappropriate affection."

Early on, it became clear to Eric and I after we had a few interactions with the elders that "something wasn't right." We didn't have a scripture to quote, just our gut feeling (Holy Spirit) to follow. After a series of attempts where we tried to explain to the elders our belief that what in fact happened, was bigger, and more serious than "just inappropriate affection." We were cautioned about gossip, becoming bitter, that is was wrong to listen to "worldly" psychology, and that we needed to get to a place of forgiveness (which in their interpretation meant immediate reconciliation with Patrick and our family) we knew we needed to break from this congregation and it's leadership.

This was the start of our isolation. Some would say the isolation was self inflicted. I would argue we were collateral damage that the leadership was willing to lose in order to save their church. To stand with our family would have meant standing against the Rojas family. Remember the father and mother had something to hide. The elders, idolized Eddie Rojas! The elders were "used" by Eddie Rojas BUT they had an opportunity to tell the truth to us and the authorities BUT they chose to stay silent.

If the elders felt they needed to stay silent out of biblical obligation, then why, within days after Patrick was sentenced (and protected from further charges in our case) did they break "privilege" and tell a room full of church members that they knew detailed information about what he did to our child and that they didn't report it?

Can you believe after that information came to light many families stayed with the church for months? Currently, the church, Peninsula Household of Faith Community Church, in Port Orchard, WA. is still fellowshipping under the authority of the same two elders. They are still supporting Patrick David Rojas.

It has been said that we are the ones that are in sin....we are angry, bitter, and unforgiving....

I reject that! First the abuse from Patrick. Then we were betrayed by our leaders, whom we trusted to do what was right and stand with the victim and their family. They should have called out their brother in Christ to take responsibility for his actions and not hide behind lawyers. They should have preferred the victim over the abuser. They should have mourned with those whom mourned!

They shouldn't have been afraid to educate themselves on the subject of sexual abuse. They should have reported all that they knew of the crime for the benefit of the abuser receiving a proper sentence and more importantly so the victim could receive proper help as soon as possible! (not six months later)

THE ELDER'S BETRAYAL IMPEDED JUSTICE!