ELYRIA, Ohio — Elyria police are still investigating the death of 16-year-old Vincent Pabon, whose body was discovered in the water near the East Falls Riverwalk.
Jacob Rosado, 24, who police say was last seen with him, is now in Lorain County Jail. 3News obtained police reports and court documents detailing previous allegations that Rosado sexually assaulted a minor.
On the night of August 6, Elyria police say a surveillance camera captured 16-year-old Vincent Pabon and 24-year-old Jacob Rosado walking down a trail to the Black River.
Rosado was apprehended by police the next morning at 5:37 a.m. while walking out alone. More than two hours later, Rosado reported Pabon missing to the police.
He told police that the two were hanging out near the East Falls Riverwalk, talking and drinking, when Pabon fell in. Rosado claimed he tried to help, but he also fell in and lost sight of Pabon.
According to court documents, Elyria police obtained an arrest warrant for Rosado and arrested him that night on two felony charges: tampering with evidence and contributing to the delinquency of a child.
However, court records show Rosado was previously arrested on a felony charge.
Sheffield Lake police arrested Rosado in 2021 on charges of third-degree felony gross sexual imposition. According to the police report, Rosado was 19 years old when he was accused of sexually assaulting a boy under the age of 12.
The victim’s mother told police that her son saw Rosado as a mentor, which is why she felt comfortable with them spending time together.
Rosado eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of misdemeanor attempted criminal child enticement.
However, the court docket shows that a person named “v. Pabon” was subpoenaed to testify in the 2021 case.
We asked Sheffield Lake police for any additional reports naming Jacob Rosado, and they sent us 27 pages of records dating back to 2020. The documents contained several reports from parents who told police that Rosado had asked young boys ages 13, 14, and 15 to ride in his car.
When police asked Rosado about it, he said he was trying to make friends and assumed the boys were older than 16.
Rosado is scheduled to appear in Elyria Municipal Court for a preliminary hearing on the tampering with evidence charges. The hearing is scheduled for Thursday at 2 p.m.
Is there any way of finding out if Vincent WAS the “child” victim in the case where Rosado pleaded guilty to that lesser charge or just a witness? The ages match up with Rosado was 19 and now he is 24 while Pabon was under 12 (11) and is forever 16 now. Also, Rosado was due in court this week in regards to another case for offenses he was arrested for in Sheffield Lake. According to comments and possibly at least one media report— Pabon was scheduled to be testifying in that case, as well. Obviously, his untimely suspicious death would have prevented that testimony. Was Pabon the victim in this case as well? I would like to clear up some of the rumors, and get a better understanding of the current relationship between the two of them. Some have said Rosado lured him there, but it sounds like he was willingly walking WITH Rosado on the camera footage. Lastly, it was reported that the police “apprehended” Rosado at approximately 6 am coming out of the area alone and then reported that he didn’t go to the police station, directly above the falls until approximately 8 am. Would you please clarify if he was actually approached by police and questioned HOURS PRIOR to him reporting the disappearance, or was that an error in the reporting? This is such a sensitive case and I’m sure the family, friends, and community would appreciate only true facts being reported.
Thank you for your helpful feedback! I really appreciate you taking the time to point that out. I’ll definitely give my posts a closer look to make sure everything’s accurate.