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This horrible case in Vermont made national news and as a result of the case...:
In the Wake of Tragedy, Vermont Considers Overhaul of Sex Offender Laws
In June 2008, 12-year-old Brooke Bennett of Braintree was murdered in Randolph. As of this writing, Michael Jacques, her uncle, has been charged in federal court with her kidnapping, but has not yet stood trial for the offense.
[Editor’s note: According to an October 1 news report from the Rutland Herald, Michael Jacques has now been indicted on additional charges in the Bennett case:
A federal grand jury has indicted the uncle of 12-year-old Brooke Bennett, charging him with drugging, sexually assaulting and smothering her with a plastic bag, prosecutors said Wednesday. The grand jury in Rutland also handed up "special findings" against Michael Jacques, 42, of Randolph, making him eligible for the death penalty if convicted on the charge of kidnapping with death resulting. It also indicted him on five child pornography counts, and charged that he coerced another girl, 14, into helping him with the abduction.]
“The horrific circumstances surrounding [Bennett’s] abduction and death amount to one of the most heinous crimes ever committed in our state,” wrote Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin (D-Windham) in his letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Richard Sears (D-Bennington). “This terrible tragedy also raises significant questions for our criminal justice system, given that the sole suspect in Brooke Bennett’s murder, her uncle Michael Jacques, was released from Department of Corrections supervision early after being convicted of a prior sexual offense.”
Bennett’s case – especially the oft-cited information that Jacques, 42, had a prior sexual offense conviction when he was 26, for which he was released early – has led to a broad public outcry for an overhaul of Vermont’s sex offender laws.
I try to understand both sides of the coin -- absolute justice for the Bennett family and the rights of a defendant to a trial and 'zealous representation' [I believe that is the correct term]....
What I cannot understand is why this process has to take so long; what is the purpose? How is justice served when it can take four years just to get a trial, no less start the trial?
Location: Vermont, grew up in Colorado and California
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What I cannot understand is why this process has to take so long; what is the purpose? How is justice served when it can take four years just to get a trial, no less start the trial?
VIA the evening news.....Now it won't start until September 2013,,,,,more scheduling conflicts ect. bla bla bla.
Whoa. An Uncle? Sex offender? And the parents....? Yes....the delay tactics are crazy. Who can even remember anything four years ago? Cases like this really should be fast tracked...looks rock solid...another witness...
Summerz, I completely agree with you - actually I think it is past absurd and it is simply outrageous! This has been awful - if you are not completely familiar with the whole story, you might want to google it and read some of the in-depth information, including how "he" also helped to try to find her, are you kidding me?
People surrounding the greater Randolph area pitched in to try to help to find her and all the while....
Location: Vermont, grew up in Colorado and California
5,296 posts, read 7,233,802 times
Reputation: 9253
I am very familiar with it, watched it from day one Amber alert ect......have lost track of the delays and excuses.
Different case...
Don't remember the exact year, maybe 25 or so years ago, a teen raped and killed a young girl left her in a cornfield near Bristol I think.
HE joined the search team.....you just never know.....
Jacques has 1993 convictions for kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault. Prosecutors argued against bail, saying he posed a threat to the accuser and had violated probation;
Ray Gagnon, stepfather - arrested and charged with obstruction of justice [among other things];
It can take yrs for a murder case to go to trial. This guy is a sick freak & he will get whats coming to him. The girl was only 12 & his niece. Bastard !
This horrible crime happened in 2008 -- the last time I posted something about this case was in 2012 AND in one of the threads, there is a comment [or two] about the length of time it has taken to get this to trial.
It is no June 2013 and this is the news - a story I find egregious, outrageous, and pitiful -- I understand that the wheels of justice can grind exceedingly slow - but -
We are talking about a horrific crime; a family tragedy; a right for the victim's family to NOT have to wait so long to have these deep wounds uncovered -- I 'get it' that offenders have rights - that is an integral part of the entire system -- yet.....
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