Unlocked doors give way to frightening intrusions in Vancouver

By Adam Ghassemi, KATU News and KATU.com Staff Published: Sep 6, 2009 at 12:49 PM PST Last Updated: Sep 7, 2009 at 11:51 AM PST
Home intruders in Vancouver »Play Video
The mother of the boy that she said woke up screaming Friday morning because a naked man had climbed into his bed. To protect the identify of her son, this woman did not want her face on camera.

VANCOUVER, Wash. - This story is both frightening and disturbing.

Early Friday morning, a Vancouver mother said she caught a naked intruder in bed with her five-year-old son. She said her son was screaming, "Stop touching me! I said stop!"

This mother, who doesn't want to show her face on camera, said she woke to hear her five-year-old son's screams shortly before 1 a.m. Friday morning.

"I flipped the light on and there was a man laying in his bed. And it took me a couple seconds to realize who it was."

The intruder looked familiar because he lives just next door.

The woman said 26-year-old Joe Fajardo (pronounced fah-hard-do), got into her apartment through the front door, mistakenly left unlocked by her children. It was an opportunity, she said, that Fajardo used to rape her son.

"I know he was sexually assaulted because he was in the process of doing it when I caught him."

Fajardo is now in custody at Clark County Jail while his family still can't believe the accusations.

"This is surprise for me," Fajardo's sister, Martha Fajardo, told KATU. "I'm in shock."

Martha Fajardo said that, when she found out, she instantly asked her kids if they had ever been molested. Now this mother, and sister, is wondering if her own brother could have violated their trust.

"It's disgusting," Martha said. "I said. 'My god, what he did, I can't believe it.' I have trust in him, my family, everything."

These women, Who live so close together, have to struggle with someone they know very well - allegedly violating the innocence of someone so young.

"And it was a simple mistake," said the boy's mother, "of not locking the door or checking to see if the door was locked."

Meanwhile, there were two other break-ins in the Vancouver area over the past few days.

Around 11 p.m. Thursday, 39-year-old Stephan Pool reportedly walked into an unlocked home on Northeast 28th Circle and woke up an elderly woman to ask if he could use her phone. she ordered him to leave and called police. Police later arrested the man.

Then around 2 a.m. Friday morning, a 15-year-old boy entered a home on Northeast Eighth Street and tried to get a young woman to leave with him, police said. She said she refused and called police. The boy was arrested as well.