Court sets new date in Jacob Rosado manslaughter trial, judge lowers bond

An Elyria man's trial in the case of a Sheffield Lake teen's drowning last summer has been pushed to early 2027 as the prosecution and defense continue to spar over what evidence will be used at trial. Despite the protests of Vincent Pabon's family, Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Chris Cook also ordered that Jacob Rosado's bond be reduced from $25,000 to $7,500. Rosado, 25, was arrested following the disappearance of Pabon, 16, last year. Rosado allegedly told Elyria police that he had given Pabon alcohol before Pabon slipped into the Black River and did not come back out on Aug. 7, 2025. Pabon's body was recovered two days later, and his death was ruled a drowning. Following Rosado's arrest, Elyria police searched his phone and allegedly found videos of Rosado, Pabon and another unidentified minor engaged in sexual activity. Rosado is charged with involuntary manslaughter, pandering obscenity, pandering sexually oriented material, gross sexual imposition and one count of tampering with evidence, all felonies, plus furnishing alcohol to minors, a misdemeanor, across three cases. He has pleaded not guilty. Last week, Cook ordered all evidence of alleged child sexual abuse material on Rosado's phone, the basis for the pandering and gross sexual imposition charges, suppressed. He also split the cases for trial before rescinding that order. On Monday, Cook also rescinded an order sending the case to trial. With those orders rescinded, he said that the cases against Rosado will be tried simultaneously and granted a request from the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office to continue the case. Lorain County Prosecutor Tony Cillo said his office was considering filing a new search warrant. Cook said he would schedule the new trial for early 2027 to provide time for that to be filed and for Rosado's defense attorney James Ingalls to respond, as well as for both parties to review another search warrant from March that the court had not yet considered. Cook also said that he believed the location information on Rosado's phone should not have been included in the suppression order, and that he "should have been more clear" in his order suppressing the evidence. Ingalls could still file a new motion to suppress evidence obtained from Rosado's phone. Cillo and Ingalls had an extensive back-and-forth about what evidence from Rosado's phone should be allowed at trial. Ingalls argued that the original search warrant for his client's phone was obtained improperly when the incident was still a missing person case, not a crime. Cillo argued that the evidence should not be suppressed on the basis of inevitable discovery — a legal argument holding that even if evidence was obtained improperly, it can be used in court if it would have been obtained properly anyway. Assistant Prosecutor Paul Griffin said his office believed it could move forward on the involuntary manslaughter charge even if the evidence from Rosado's phone was suppressed, but that he would prefer to have it included and requested a continuance to give his office a chance to do so. "My thought is my client has been sitting in jail, he has been incarcerated for over a year, it's time for that case to come to trial," said Ingalls when Cook asked him how he felt about continuing the trial. Cook said that he understood Ingalls' concern, but that that issue would be addressed when he considered Rosado's bond. Cook set a new pretrial hearing for Oct. 30 and a new trial date for Jan. 26, 2027. He said splitting the cases up once more could be addressed at a later date if either party wished to pursue it. The judge then turned to the matter of Rosado's bond. Over the objections of prosecutors and Pabon's mother and grandmother, Ingalls asked that his client's bond be reduced. Deborah Carollo, Pabon's grandmother, said in court she did not want Rosado to be able to leave jail prior to trial because she feared he would victimize boys. She said that Rosado had sexually abused her grandson in 2021 in addition to having the alleged pornographic images of children on his phone after he was arrested last year. Rosado was charged with felony gross sexual imposition for allegedly molesting Pabon in 2021, when Pabon was 11. He pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge of attempted criminal child enticement. Rosado has "had numerous complaints filed against him," Carollo said. "He knows how to groom children, and he will continue to groom children if he is released. I'm not only afraid for my daughter and grandchildren, but I am afraid for the safety of other children that may come in contact with him. He is evil." Pabon's mother, Megan Cuevas, also opposed lowering Rosado's bond. She said she understood the judge's reasoning, but said she would not feel safe with Rosado living in Elyria while she has to leave her children home alone in the same city. "I work in Elyria, I don't want anything to do with this individual around my children or myself," Cuevas said. "I just don't think he is safe, he is not a safe person. ... He might be uncomfortable, but my entire family, my world, is uncomfortable. He shouldn't deserve to be comfortable." Cook said that he sympathized with the concerns of Pabon's family, but that Rosado is presumed innocent and that he had a duty to treat Rosado fairly. "My job is to be neutral and to find a middle ground, apply the law, the facts and come to a reasonable resolution on this issue that requires me to find that middle ground, and I know it's not what everybody wants," Cook said. "(Bond is) probably going to be more than Mr. Rosado wants to pay, and it's not going to be enough for the family. I understand that, but I have an obligation to revisit this bond issue based upon the proceeding and the posture of the case." Rosado's bond was set at $7,500 and his pretrial release will be granted only on a number of conditions. Cook required Rosado to wear a GPS monitoring device 24 hours a day, ordered him to stay at least 500 feet away from and have no contact with Pabon's family, forbade him from having contact with anyone under the age of 18 and forbade him from using the internet except to do legal research on his case. Cillo objected to Rosado having internet access. He argued that Rosado could do research in person at a law library, where there are unlikely to be minors present. Ingalls said that while Rosado was convicted of child enticement in 2021, he had no history of using the internet to search for child sexual abuse material or to make contact with minors. Rosado asked Cook if he could use the internet to do work as a software engineer. Cook said he could. "I have never been suspected of using the internet to locate child pornography and I have no interest in locating child pornography," Rosado said. "I have no interest in contacting — using my devices to contact anybody. I am concerned with working (and) being able to build my life back together." Cook said Rosado may only access the internet at a public library, which he would have to leave if there were children present. He may also use the internet in Ingalls' office or a similar controlled setting. "We all know that the internet is probably the No. 1 tool used today for predation and these kind of activities, so he (Rosado) is not going to have access to the internet in an unregulated manner," Cook said. "... I am not restricting his access to the internet for purposes of doing research, I am restricting it because of the legitimate concerns that the internet poses. It has become a reality today, it is an amazing tool, it is also a sewer, and I would rather err on the side of caution." Rosado also has been charged in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court with pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor and compelling prostitution, both felonies. A warrant for his arrest has been issued in Cuyahoga County on those charges. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.