Rosarito seniors turn in wanted sex offender
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20060327-9...
By Anna Cearley
March 27, 2006
ROSARITO BEACH ? Some of the retired U.S. citizens who live here thought there was something a little odd about the stranger who started showing up at
their English-language church services about a year ago.
He occasionally led a Bible-study prayer session, but Richard Alan Rearley, 45, didn't really explain why he was living and working among the seniors.
Some retirees were so concerned that they started looking into Rearley's past and discovered he was a convicted sex offender in the United States with
an outstanding arrest warrant.
A cross-border investigation based on the retirees' tip to U.S. authorities led to Rearley's arrest March 5 as he left a Rosarito Beach church with a
Bible in his hand. Rearley, a longtime East County resident who went by the last name Alan in Mexico, was turned over to U.S. authorities. He's in
custody on two counts of failure to register as a sex offender.
The incident comes amid an influx of U.S. retirees south of the border. Housing and condo developments along the coast are being marketed to U.S.
seniors seeking a slower-paced and affordable lifestyle. Meanwhile, criminals running from U.S. authorities and looking for an inconspicuous place to
blend in sometimes end up doing odd jobs for the retirees and taking advantage of them, Mexican authorities say.
'Leery of strangers'
These two worlds collided within the sanctum of a tight-knit group of U.S. retirees who attend the English language services at Rosarito Beach's
Templo Evang?lico Bethel.
?It shows you that you can't always know . . . you have to be a little leery of strangers,? said Ann Carpenter, 77, a churchgoer who said she didn't
know Rearley well and wasn't involved in ousting him.
At the same time, some retirees said they are concerned the reaction will go overboard.
?I hope it doesn't happen where we are suspicious of everyone,? said Jackie Stoner, who also said she barely knew Rearley. She declined to give her
age, but said she's lived here 25 years after working for Pacific Bell as an administrator.
Rodolfo Luna, who is a cross-border liaison for the State Preventive Police in Baja California, said his agency detained about 50 U.S. fugitives such
as Rearley last year.
?It's important for the U.S. community to be on alert,? he said. ?These fugitives look for work here and try to hide from the problems they have in
the United States, and then they can start to cause trouble.?
Members of the English-language congregation of Templo Evang?lico Bethel said they started noticing Rearley at the church services about a year ago.
The Sunday service attracts from 35 to 55 people, said the English-language group's part-time pastor, Al Aguilar, who lives in Riverside during the
week.
The Mexican church has sponsored the English-language services, which are held in the basement, for about three decades. Aguilar described his
congregation as Protestant and all-inclusive.
About 6,000 to 15,000 U.S. citizens live in Rosarito Beach, many of them retirees. Aguilar has made a push in recent years to reach out to the growing
population. Last year, he opened a storefront project ? the Christian Learning Center ? in a small, newly constructed strip mall. The center has Bible
study groups for men, children and the general population several times a week.
Performed odd jobs
Rearley started attending the Bible study groups at the learning center during the week, keeping the bulletin board up-to-date and occasionally
leading the classes.
According to several retirees, members of the congregation employed him to do odd jobs and allowed him to stay at their homes. He painted homes and
helped with caregiver responsibilities. But he had no car for much of his time here and didn't have a current driver's license. He brushed off
questions about his past but said he had children and was divorced. He claimed to be working on a concordance, which is a type of dictionary for the
Bible.
The U.S. senior citizens who undertook their own investigation of Rearley declined to be identified because they said they don't want to aggravate
Rearley.
However, they contacted U.S. authorities and the tip was referred to a countywide task force in San Diego, overseen by the U.S. Department of Justice,
that keeps tabs on sex offenders.
According to criminal records kept by the U.S. Department of Justice, Rearley was convicted in 1983 of indecent exposure. In 1995, he was convicted of
the same crime, and he was required to register as a sex offender. Since then, he has spent time in jail and state prison for failing to register on
several occasions. In 2005, an arrest warrant was issued for another failure to register ? which was the basis of the most recent action against him.
About a week and a half after the information was relayed to Mexican authorities, they detained him in Rosarito Beach. At that time, he claimed to be
a pastor at the church, according to the State Preventive Police. Church officials and congregation members said that was not true.
Though no one had accused Rearley of a crime in Mexico, he was deported to the United States on immigration violations.
After his departure, churchgoers were left grappling with what they knew about Rearley ? and what they didn't know.
Property records searches indicate that before moving to Rosarito Beach, Rearley lived in the East County area since at least 1984. He had once worked
as a driver, transporting elderly and disabled people to appointments, according to court records from 2001.
Attempts to reach his immediate family were unsuccessful.
Lingering question
Retiree Virginia Anderson, 73, who employed Rearley to help with the care of her husband, said Rearley conducted himself professionally.
?He was nice and pleasant,? said Anderson, who said she was surprised to hear about his arrest. ?I think he was trying to get his ducks in order. Now
he's in the hands of authorities and God so maybe he can get himself straightened out.?
A lingering question for many here was whether Rearley, who demonstrated a familiarity with the Bible and seemed to take his faith seriously, had
changed his ways.
?If he had taken his Christianity to heart, he would have turned himself in and not have run,? pastor Aguilar said.
As a precaution, the group's board of directors decided to start doing background checks on anyone who requests to take a more active role in the
church, such as doing volunteer work or leading prayer sessions.
Speaking to the congregation at the March 12 Sunday service, after Rearley had been taken into custody, Aguilar addressed the congregation's doubts
and concerns.
?We are a sanctuary for the unloved, unblessed and disenfranchised of the world,? he told them. ?We seek to offer grace, mercy and hope to an unloved
world, and in the process we will be taken advantage of, deceived and duped along the way. But that does not mean we stop or turn our backs away.?
He then asked that church members pray for Rearley and his victims.
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