ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 6, 1997 TAG: 9702060027
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
The 8-year-old child who was arrested and charged with killing his stepfather discussed details about the man's murder with an elementary school counselor, sources close to the case said.
Information the boy told the counselor was so specific - right down to the suspected weapon - that investigators used it as evidence to place the child at the crime scene, the sources said.
The 8-year-old was attending counseling sessions after having behavior problems in the classroom, the sources said.
The counselor, who works at a Franklin County school the child attended, has declined comment. "I will not talk unless I'm subpoenaed to testify in court," the counselor said.
The boy was arrested Jan. 14, about a month after Bernard Rosser, a 55-year-old Franklin County probation officer, was found dead from a blow to the head at his home in Gretna.
The child, who is being represented by Altavista attorney Glenn Berger, was held at the W.W. Moore Detention Home in Danville until Tuesday, when he was taken to Virginia Baptist Hospital in Lynchburg.
The child's mother, Frances Rosser, contends the boy is innocent.
She has hired attorney Ray Ferris of Roanoke to represent her. Rosser sought a lawyer because it was clear to her that investigators did not believe statements she gave them, Ferris said.
She has not been charged in the case, nor have investigators identified her as a suspect.
According to the same sources, Frances Rosser has told investigators this:
On Dec. 18, the night before Bernard Rosser's body was found, she and the child left on a planned trip to see relatives in Mississippi. Frances Rosser maintains that after she and her son left, someone broke into their Gretna home, murdered her husband and stole some money off a table in the house.
Bernard Rosser was last seen by friends at a Bible study Dec. 18 at Piney Grove Baptist Church in Gretna.
Frances Rosser said she and the child left Gretna about 8:30 p.m., before her husband returned from church. Investigators have confirmed that she checked into a hotel near Atlanta about 4 a.m. the next day and checked out a few hours later, the sources said.
Bernard Rosser, a Pittsylvania County native, spent years working with juveniles as a probation and parole officer in New York and Houston. He had moved back to the calm of Southside Virginia two years ago to escape his work with delinquent kids in inner-city neighborhoods.
Frances Rosser, 43, worked as a counselor with at-risk families through the Franklin County Office on Youth. She continued to work after her son was charged, but has since resigned, Ferris said.
The nature of the case has prompted Pittsylvania County officials to say almost nothing about it, and the boy's family has disclosed no information about him.
Neighbors have described him as big for his age.
Under Virginia law, a child under age 14 cannot be tried as an adult on any charge. Children must be 10 or older to be committed to a juvenile detention center.
LENGTH: Medium: 62 linesby CNB