Ex-Kennewick schools superintendent admits to child sex crime

By Kristin M. Kraemer / Tri-City Herald

RICHLAND — A former Kennewick schools superintendent, now a convicted sex offender, was locked up Tuesday after new allegations he threatened to kill himself.

Paul W. Rosier, 76, is facing at least 10 years behind bars after admitting he tried to meet up with two teen girls to have sex. His sentencing isn’t until October.

Rosier, the former head of a state school administrators association, has been out of custody for more than a year on court-ordered conditions, which include wearing a GPS tracking device at his home in Arizona.

However, after pleading guilty Tuesday in the Richland federal courthouse, his freedom came to an end when Senior Judge Ed Shea learned about his apparent suicidal thoughts.

A pretrial services officer informed Shea that Rosier’s estranged wife left a voicemail with federal prosecutors on Monday saying Rosier “was making suicidal statements to her and she was concerned for his safety.”

The official said no one was able to reach his wife, but Rosier’s son told officials he checked on him Monday evening and found no issues with his father’s mental health or stability.

The initial agreement between attorneys had been for Rosier to remain free until his sentencing Oct. 2 in U.S. District Court.

But with the new allegations, Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Jones said he thinks the judge has no option now but to detain Rosier for the next 3 1/2 months until sentencing.

Shea ordered Rosier held immediately and scheduled a detention hearing for Wednesday.

He told pretrial officers and attorneys to spend the following 21 hours arranging live video testimony from Rosier’s supervising pretrial officer and counselor, both in Arizona, along with family members.

“You better be prepared and you better be prepared with evidence from Arizona to persuade me. I intend to make a decision with clear and convincing evidence …,” said Shea. “Everybody should be prepared to give their very best and not hearsay.”

Mary Rosier reportedly lives in Colorado. Shea said Rosier’s wife can testify by phone if they can reach her.

Paul Rosier was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals until the hearing.

Rosier was arrested in April 2017 at Richland’s Hampton Inn after arranging to “hook up” with two girls.

He had exchanged text messages over a three-day period with a 16-year-old and agreed to pay $200 total — $160 to a 13-year-old girl for sex and $40 to the older teen for setting it up, according to court documents.

Rosier lived in Olympia at the time and was in the Tri-Cities for business. He didn’t know the older teen he’d been chatting with actually was an undercover detective with the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children task force.

On Tuesday, several task force members and Richland’s Interim Police Chief Jeff Taylor were in court for the anticipated guilty plea.

Rosier had been charged with attempted child sex trafficking with a victim younger than 14. The indictment was amended to bump the age to under 18. That cut five years from the mandatory minimum sentencing requirement.

Rosier admitted to the judge that he was taking the plea agreement because it benefited him with “lesser time in prison.” He will have to register as a sex offender.

Shea asked Rosier if he was pleading because he truly is guilty.

After a long pause, Rosier said, “I am truly guilty of doing what the indictment says.”

“What I did was wrong and I’m responsible for that and I should live with the consequences for that,” Rosier replied. “Did I truly go into this … believing I was trafficking? No sir, but that’s what I did.”

Shea said he wouldn’t accept a plea from a defendant if they didn’t believe they were guilty, so he further pushed Rosier about the circumstances of the alleged crime.

“The intent of that meeting (at the Hampton Inn) was to meet the person that I had been texting with,” said Rosier. He added that he believed it was a 16-year-old girl, and he was planning to have “engage in sexual activity” with a 13-year-old and he brought money to pay them.

Rosier spent 12 years with the Kennewick School District, leaving in 2006 to work as executive director for the Washington Association of School Administrators. He’s been retired since 2014.