This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.
From Esparto, California, foster father and coach Cristan James Rooms, 29, “was arrested Monday [December 12, 2011] and is being held on $2.75 million bail at the Monroe Detention Center in Woodland, the sheriff’s department reported in a news release Wednesday [December 14, 2011].
He was booked on a charges of lewd and lacivious acts with a minor using force or fear, five counts of continuous sexual assault of a child, and child endangerment, according to the news release.
The charges stem from his alleged assault of 14-year-old boy to whom he acted as a mentor and soccer and bowling coach, it said.
Rooms is a coach with Vacaville Youth Soccer League and Soccer Nation in Vacaville, authorities said.
He is also a foster parent licensed by the state Department of Social Services, they said.”
“Yolo County child welfare officials removed a six-year-old foster child in his custody, authorities said.”
Esparto coach, foster parent arrested for suspected child molestation
[Sacramento Bee 12/14/11 by Hudson Sangree]
Yolo County Sheriff Sgt. Lance Faille “said Yolo County Sheriff’s detectives conducted a comprehensive investigation before the arrest.
Rooms serves in a coaching capacity with the Vacaville Youth Soccer League and Soccer Nation, authorities said. The alleged victim, age 14, had been a member of Vacaville’s Youth Soccer League and referred to Rooms as a “soccer coach” but it was unclear as of Wednesday afternoon whether Rooms was an officially sanctioned soccer coach, Faille said. Investigators say the alleged abuse occurred over the past four years.
Detectives have also executed a search warrant at Rooms’ residence and collected additional items they believe will support their case, Faille said. ”
“Detectives are continuing the investigation to determine if there are more alleged victims. Anyone with additional information is asked to call Detective Jennifer Davis at 668-5215. “
Vacaville soccer coach arrested on child molest charges
[Daily Democrat 12/14/11]
““He didn’t seem like he’d be a child molester,” a neighbor told CBS13. “I can’t believe this. He seemed like a nice guy.”
Esparto Foster Parent, Youth Soccer Coach Accused Of Abusing Teen Boy
[CBS Sacramento 12/14/11 by Laura Cole]
The six-year-old foster child “was at school when Yolo County Child Welfare Services picked him up, the release says.”
Youth Coach Accused Of Molesting Boy He Mentored
[KCRA 12/14/11]
Update: “Yolo County man, charged with more than 50 counts related to child molestation is now facing a $12 million bail.
Cristan Rooms made his first court appearance on Thursday in Yolo County Superior Court. He’s accused of molesting two children under 14 years old.
During his court appearance, the judge increased the bail from $2.75 million to $12 million after the district attorney increased the number of charges against Rooms.
Rooms is charged with 48 felony counts of child molestation and six misdemeanor counts of abusing or endangering the welfare of a minor.
According to a 28-page criminal complaint, Rooms showered with one of the victims at various times between June 12, 2007 and June 11, 2011.
The complaint reads during the same time period, Rooms unlawfully touched the same child’s buttocks and penis over the clothing.
According to the complaint, between Feb. 1, 2011 and Nov. 30, 2011, Rooms endangered the health of a second victim when he spanked and gave an enema to the child.
Rooms was arrested earlier this week at his Esparto home.
According to Pam Miller, Yolo County Director of Employment and Social Services, Rooms received his foster care license in May 2010. Since that time, Miller said Yolo County placed three children in Rooms’ care and Sacramento County placed one child.
The last time a social worker visited Rooms’ home was two weeks ago when a 6-year-old child was removed. However, Miller could not comment on the nature of the visit.
The 6-year-old was the only child in Rooms’ custody recently, Miller said, who does not believe any of Rooms’ foster children were victims of sexual abuse.
According to a Yolo County Sheriff’s spokesman, Rooms was a mentor and coach to one of the victims.
Rooms coached for the Vacaville Youth Soccer League and Soccer Nation.
In an email Luke Quiroz, facility manager for Soccer Nation, said he learned about the accusations against Rooms on Wednesday. Quiroz did not have any comment on the arrest.
“We have notified parents who were registered to his team advising them of the arrest and press release information. In addition we have provided them with contact information for the detective in charge of the investigation,” Quiroz said.
Rooms is still licensed as a foster care parent. The Department of Social Services is doing its own investigation of Rooms’ license.”
Bail Increased for Coach Accused of Child Molestation
[News 10 12/15/11 by Kristen Drew]
Update 2: “Prosecutors say they expect to file more charges and disclose additional victims after the completion of a wide-ranging investigation of a foster father and youth soccer coach from Esparto accused of child molestation.
Cristan James Rooms, 29, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Yolo Superior Court to 48 felony counts and six misdemeanor counts of molesting or endangering two children for more than four years.He remains in custody in the Yolo County jail. In December, a court commissioner set his bail at $12 million – $250,000 for each of the felony counts.
Prosecutor Robert Gorman said he expects to file additional charges by the time the parties return to court March 13 and to ask for increased bail.
“I will have disclosed all of the victims (by then),” Gorman told Judge Timothy Fall.
In the hallway of the Woodland courthouse, Gorman said the Yolo County sheriff’s investigation is continuing with agencies in Solano and Marin counties contributing.
Rooms was involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters, in addition to being a youth soccer coach in Vacaville and a state- licensed foster parent, Gorman and investigators said.
Gorman said that to his knowledge, Rooms was unmarried.
The prosecutor declined to disclose information about other possible victims, saying he was concerned that providing any details would allow them to be identified in the communities where they live.
“The investigation still has a long way to go,” he said.
The prosecutors’ complaint lists four dozen instances when Rooms allegedly molested a child 14 or younger by showering with him and improperly touching him. Rooms was a mentor and coach to the boy, sheriff’s investigators said.
The assaults started in June 2007 and continued through June of last year, the complaint alleges.
Six child endangerment charges in the complaint relate to another child whose age and gender are unspecified. They stem from incidents that allegedly took place from February to November of last year.
A 6-year-old foster child was removed from Rooms’ custody by Yolo County child welfare agents in the weeks before his arrest.”
Prosecutors: More charges to be filed against child molestation suspect
[Sacramento Bee 2/1/12 by Hudson Sangree]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Critical thinking during the homestudy, again, is what is needed in these cases.
Update 2: “A hearing today for a youth coach and foster parent from Esparto accused of molesting two children was put off until May 8.
Cristan Rooms, 29, remains in the Yolo County jail with bail set at $12 million. He faces 54 charges, including 48 felony counts.
A foster child in his care was removed as the investigation began.
Yolo County prosecutor Robert Gorman had said he intended to reveal addtional victims and file more charges by today.
Gorman said the investigation is ongoing. ”
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/13/4334526/coachs-molest-trial-delayed.html#storylink=cpy
Coach’s molest trial delayed
[Sacramento Bee 3/13/12 by Hudson Sangree]
Update 3: ” One of five boys who say an Esparto man repeatedly molested them took the witness stand Friday in Yolo Superior Court, describing the alleged conduct that led to 90 criminal charges being filed against the youth soccer coach and foster dad.
It was the first day of a preliminary hearing for Cristan James Rooms, 30, who has pleaded not guilty to allegations that he molested five boys, ages 9 to 13, over a nearly five-year period.
According to the testimony, Rooms was working as a computer technician at a Vacaville elementary school when he was assigned to be a “special friend” to the alleged victim, a sixth-grader who struggled with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
“He would help me by taking me out of class and calming me down,” the witness, now 18, testified in Judge Timothy Fall’s courtroom. The Enterprise is withholding his name because of the nature of the case.
In the beginning, the pair played computer and board games in a school classroom. Soon, they were meeting outside of school, spending time at the local bowling alley or at Rooms’ mother’s house, he said.
When Rooms bought a home in a newer subdivision in Esparto, the boy visited three to four times a week, often spending the night. Eventually, he began staying for several weeks at a time, playing with video games or the numerous toys Rooms kept at the house, he said.
At one point, Rooms enrolled himself and the boy, whose father had died a couple years earlier, in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters youth mentoring organization. They traveled to various festivals, summer camps and once took an extended, multi-state road trip.
Nothing seemed unusual until the one day that the boy complained of a stomachache while at Rooms’ house. That evening, he said, Rooms gave him an enema, then massaged his penis and wrapped him in a diaper before sending him to bed.
“He said he didn’t want me to have an accident,” the teen testified under questioning by Deputy District Attorney Rob Gorman. “I was scared. … I didn’t know what he was doing.” Before long, the pair were showering together, he said.
The alleged victim estimated that Rooms either diapered him or showered with him — masturbating him each time — on more than 30 occasions between the ages of 13 and 14, but that he never asked why.
“I just went along with it — I just didn’t know if it was right or wrong,” he said.
Gorman called the teen as a key witness in the preliminary hearing, where a judge determines whether there is sufficient evidence for a case to move forward to the trial stage.
Fall is expected to issue his ruling after the hearing concludes on Sept. 14.
Rooms, 30, was arrested Dec. 12, 2011, after a different teenage boy confided to a mutual friend that Rooms had molested him repeatedly. By then, Rooms also had become a foster parent to a 6-year-old boy, who was removed from the home during the law-enforcement investigation.
The case later expanded to include five alleged victims whose ages ranged from 9 to 13. More than half of the 90 criminal charges — 85 of which are felonies — stem from alleged conduct involving the teen who testified Friday.
He said he came forward in January after hearing news reports of Rooms’ arrest. Until then, he hadn’t reported the alleged abuse because he feared Rooms, who he said would spank him when he refused to be diapered.
“He told me that if I told anyone, they wouldn’t understand,” he said.
But the physical violence went both ways, the teen later admitted under cross-examination by defense attorney Shannon Baker.
He acknowledged attacking Rooms during a sixth-grade camp, during the extended road trip and on other occasions, and said that Rooms never touched him inappropriately during those early excursions.
Shortly after his 14th birthday, the teen assaulted Rooms a final time at his Esparto home.
“I just snapped and started hitting him,” he said. Rooms responded by packing up the boy’s belongings and driving him to his mother’s house in Vacaville.
He said Rooms later gave him a letter explaining why they would have no further contact, which the teen crumpled up and threw back at him.
“Because you felt Mr. Rooms had abandoned you?” Baker asked.
“Yep,” the teen replied.
He said the two crossed paths one last time at a Roseville water park, where Rooms was accompanied by several young boys. Baker suggested the teen had tried to to rekindle his relationship with Rooms and was hurt when he refused, but the alleged victim said that wasn’t true.
“I didn’t care anymore,” he said.
Rooms remains in Yolo County Jail custody in lieu of $12 million bail.”
Allegations aired in Esparto child-molest case
[Davis Enterprise 8/19/12 by Lauren Keene]
Update 4/April 15, 2013
A February 3, 2013 article states that Cristan was set to be arraigned on March 28, 2013. A check of the Yolo County public court calendar reveals that he was arraigned on March 28, 2013.
“A Yolo Superior Court judge has found sufficient evidence for a former Esparto foster parent and youth soccer coach to stand trial on 90 count[sic] of child molestation.
Judge Timothy Fall ordered 31-year-old Cristan James Rooms back to court for arraignment on March 28 following the conclusion of the defendant’s preliminary hearing Friday. Rooms is being held at the Yolo County Jail in lieu of $12 million bail.
Rooms has pleaded not guilty to allegations that he molested five young boys over a nearly five-year period.
An 18-year-old man testified last July that Rooms began molesting him at the defendant’s Esparto home when he was about 13 years old. He said Rooms, a former computer technician at a Vacaville elementary school, had been assigned as a “special friend” to the alleged victim when he was in the sixth grade.
The teen estimated that Rooms either diapered him or showered with him — masturbating him each time — on more than 30 occasions between the ages of 13 and 14, but that he never asked why.
“I just went along with it — I just didn’t know if it was right or wrong,” he said.
Rooms was arrested Dec. 12, 2011, after a different teenage boy confided to a mutual friend that Rooms repeatedly had molested him, Yolo County sheriff’s officials said. By then, Rooms also had become a foster parent to a 6-year-old boy, who was removed from the home during the law-enforcement investigation.”
Molest suspect ordered to stand trial
[Davis Enterprise 2/3/13 by Lauren Keene]
Update 5/July 16, 2013
A search of the Yolo County Court Calendar reveals that on May 10, 2013, a trial setting conference was held
On October 4 , 2013 an Early Disposition Conference will be held. An early disposition conference is a procedure where the District Attorney and the defense attempt to reach a disposition. If they cannot, then the defense is entitled to a preliminary hearing.
Update 6/August 14,2014:
“District Attorney Jeff Reisig announced that on March 17, 2014, the Honorable Stephen Mock of the Yolo County Superior Court sentenced 32-year-old Cristan Rooms of Esparto to 30 years in state prison for sexually assaulting five young boys. On February 3, 2014 Rooms pled no contest to 12 counts of felony child sexual assault.
The boys met Cristan Rooms when he was their soccer coach, and Rooms exploited this relationship in order to sexually molest the boys between 2007 and 2011. Rooms’ sexual assaults came to light when the mother of one of the boys received a sexually descriptive text message from Rooms and contacted the Yolo County Sheriff’s Department. After conducting an investigation, Sheriff’s detectives discovered five boys who had been sexually assaulted by Rooms.
Yolo County Sheriff Detective Jennifer Davis obtained statements from the victims’ parents that ultimately confirmed the timeframe in which Cristan Rooms coached, mentored, and cared for the children in his home in Esparto. This timeframe was the same as the period of time the children reported the abuse occurred. The Yolo County Multi-Disciplinary Interview Center (MDIC) was instrumental in obtaining and preserving the young victims’ reports of the sexual abuse. The MDIC interviewed 16 children ranging in age from 7-16.
Supervising Deputy District Attorney Rob Gorman, who prosecuted Rooms, stated that the plea bargain eliminated the need for a jury trial, and spared the young boys from having to testify about the sexual abuse they each endured. DDA Gorman thanked the Yolo County Sheriff’s Department, the staff at the Yolo County MDIC, and the Victim Services Division of the Yolo District Attorney’s Office for all of their efforts in obtaining justice for the victims. ”
Yolo County Press Release
I know his adoptive parents and feel for them. I know Cris as a professional aquaintance and surprised. I would only hope this was fabricated as it is hard to believe he is capable of what he is being accused of. If he is found to be capable I do hope everyone does not blame his family, sometimes you just don't know what is going on behind closed doors. My prayers are with all of the Rooms family.
My heart goes out to the Rooms family. I have worked with Cris and know his parents personally. His parents are good hearted people who care very much for others. I hope the community of Vacaville does not show any hatred or disconcern toward his parents if Cris is found guilty. I myself would be very shocked if he is convicted. I personally would have never pegged Cris of these allegations. But like they say you can judge a book by its cover and you do not know what goes on behind closed doors.
I, too feel for Cris' parents. I am sure that this is a shock to everyone. It would be nice if these charges were fabricated… nice for the boys if no one else. But they are not.
My heart also goes out to the Rooms family and to all those involved. If the allegations are true, then the victims will have a very difficult road ahead. If they are false, then the boy(s) involved will have an equally difficult recovery. Cris's life is destroyed in either case. I have known him for many years and consider him a friend. I don't know what kind of knowledge the previous person has, but unless it is firsthand, I am disinclined to believe that Cris is capable of anything so heinous. I am disgusted by the capacity and willingness of people to judge without knowing all of the facts. I pray that this turns out in the best way possible for all concerned.
I find it so sick how all of these people thought these kids were lying. This man is an evil worthless piece of garbage. One of his victims now dead and another , every day deals with severe drug addiction and suicide attempts and proving he isn’t gay. I hope Cris is suffering severely for the rest of his life. I wish him nothing but pain, and misery forever. He destroyed the lives of so many and don’t blame his family? Come on really? Like they didn’t know.
I also, considered him a friend, a good friend at that. There is nothing pretty about what will be revealed.
Thanks to everyone that shared your information. We were unaware that Cris also was an adoptee. Can anyone share if he was internationally or domestically adopted? In addition to archiving victims' stories in these How Could You? columns, we seek to identify patterns in adoption that can be reformed to reduce the number of future victims. This information can add to our data.
As a former player of his im not really that suprised, just disappointed in cris. Cris was always far too attatched to one or more of his "special players" giving them abnormal amounts of attention. Having probably met the assaulted boys myself, i pray for them. Definately not cris
are there any updates on this case?
Thank you for the heads up on this case. Yes, he appeared in preliminary hearing on Friday the 17th. I will update the post with the specifics.
My son was the first victim. He did not want to come forward, but did so in the hope that it would prevent any other boys from going through what he has.
I hope and pray that Cris is convicted and sentenced to a long term in prison. I won’t go into what I would personally like to do to him.
We are so sorry to hear about your son 🙁 He is very brave to come forward. I am sure that he has prevented many more children from being victims. I will be praying with you on the conviction and sentencing.
Thank you.
Does anyone know what the verdict was? Is he still incarcerated?
I found a Feb 2013 article that talks of a March 28 2013 arraignment and the court public calendar says that he was arraigned on that day. I could find no other information at this time. I would assume that he did not have enough money to post his extremely large bond. I will update the post with this information.
His trial is scheduled to start Feb, 2014 unless he takes a plea deal. I’m hoping he takes a deal so my son doesn’t have to testify again.
Name/July 31: Thanks for that update. I had found that the disposition is on October 4 when he may take a plea deal. I hope it is a significant time behind bars plea deal . Still praying for your son and other victims
I lived one street over from this man and had even met and talked to him. I would have never guessed that he was sick. My sorrow goes out to the parents of those poor boys he hurt. I pray they are able to live an emotionally healthy life after what he did to them. 30 years in prison doesn’t seem like long enough for changing those kids lives forever.
Has anyone heard what the Oct. 4 outcome was? I am still following this story.
Are you still updating the outcome of his hearings? I have been following this story.
Just read this, honestly it makes me sick to my stomach because I know what he did. For people to say that they think it isn’t true is confusing to me. The trial is Feb 3rd 2014. That’s when the date is set as of right now.
Why do you use the name pup-wolf, that’s not who you are. I know you can’t erase any of the memories, but you can take away the name that relates to him. HE was/is sick. Not you, he preyed upon your weakness as a kid. I hope you’re doing ok and I have never stopped praying for you.
I am so sorry for what you went through. My youngest son just told me he was also a victim. I only wish I knew sooner. I have 3 sons and a nephew who were all metored by him I fear theres more my son isn’t telling me but am afraid to push him for more. It has taken him years to talk to me about it. My prayers are with you. And as a mother I am begging you to put it in the past and live your life to its full potential.
Please let authorities in the Sheriffs Dept. know, so that the Monster Cris spends as much time as possible Lenin jail or prison. Please. 40 years is not enough. Thank you!
As of yesterday, 1/31/2014, a plea deal was offered and accepted. He will be sentenced to 30 years. Personally, I think he should get life. I’m very grateful that, now, my son and the other boys won’t have to testify at trial.
Thank you for information, Name! So glad they won’t have to testify.
Wow…… No contest on 12 counts. 30 years.
30 years isn’t enough, but we’ll take it. My son is relieved it’s finally over. He can move on now.
I’m not going into details, but he needs life in prison; he’ll likely do it again . We have knowledge of this sick man. He tried to attach to my son for a few years. I even reported him. Every time I saw him, he was like a wild animal on the hunt. We just tried to stay away. He worked at school and with soccer. Thank God for some of the truth(I am certain that there are more) . I’m just so sorry for the young men and families who will suffer because of him.
My heart aches for the victims in this situation, but also for Cris too. I have known him for a long time and he helped me through some difficult periods of my early adulthood, and was always a good friend to me. So when I heard about his arrest, naturally I was shocked. We had not communicated much over the last decade other than Facebook, so while I was surprised about the accusation, honestly you never know what someone is capable of.
Being a parent myself, I understand the parents’ anger towards Cris, as I would feel the same rage were my children a victim of a crime like this. I can only hope the victims find enough peace that makes them capable of having a normal life and I also hope Cris gets the help/therapy he needs while spending the majority of his life in jail.
First I’d like the victims to know that prayers are being sent their way. My hope is that they can rebuild their lives and find peace from what this monster has done to them.
I too met Chris Rooms back in 2007. An elementary school teacher introduced him to my son and I when my son was entering adolescence. She thought that he would benefit from Chris’s guidance. Ha! Luckily my mama bear gut instinct kicked in and I declined his “help”. I had a feeling that something wasnt right. A person of 25 years old wanting to hang out with young boys didnt seem plausible. Shouldnt you be hanging out with people your own age, dating etc? Maybe im being judgmental, but that judgement more than likely saved my son! Being a young single mother at the time, I noticed that him wanting to take these kids to the movies, bowling, sleepovers , it just seemed to me that he was “grooming” them. And now after the details have emerged from the trial and his conviction, thats exactly what he was doing. I dont blame the teacher who introduced Chris to me he played her as well. But it brings up a point that anyone going into a career in Education should also have to take a course in what to look for in a pedophile. These teachers are with our children several hours of each day. They recognize the ones who may benefit from extra support and guidance. And like this teacher, she almost hand delivered Chris Rooms next victim.
I have always taught my children that your heart will lie to you along with your brain but your gut will always be truthful. Thank goodness that I listened to mine!
I still can’t believe that I ever met this man. His actions still haunt my life. I wish we never ever spoke to him. Looking back he began grooming straight from the gate and I feel for it. I allowed my guard down because he was let into the Foster system. The county of Yolo said he was safe to have children in his home. What a calculated sick monster. If I have any regret in life, it’s that I allowed him around my son.
I am horrified that just tonight 1-30-16 my son who just turned 17 finally confided in me that he was too a victim. At the time I was a single mom with 3 sons working a full time job. I never had reason to think he had hurt my kids. He would take all 3 never one on one. I was young seperated from my children’s father having a tough time on my own. And really needed the help.. I was working 2 graveyard shifts and was dumb enough to think thos man was a kind hearted man who just wanted to help. My older sons will not talk about it. I dont blame the rooms family. But as for cris. Him I blame and wish a life time of misery!!!! I thank god my sons are strong. I only wish my son would have come to me sooner. Everyday he is in prison I only wish he would be there longer. He does not deserve to EVER be free. My boys are my would and i name myself for allowing this monster into their lives!!!! He is evil!!!
Today I learned not only did this monster hurt my youngest son. My oldest now 25 finally told me the truth. Ive never wished harm on another living thing but I wish death upon this monster. I blame myself. I allowed him to do this.