Suspect faces federal charges

Death penalty in abduction of Vt. girl possible

Brooke Bennett was mourned in Randolph.

A pastoral central Vermont farming town torn apart by the abduction and death of a 12-year-old girl struggled to piece itself back together yesterday, as federal authorities leveled charges against the girl's uncle that could bring the death penalty.

"This has really rocked our town," said David Barnett, the assistant principal at Randolph Union High School, where Brooke Bennett was a popular seventh grader and three-sport athlete. "Virtually everybody knows everybody, so for something like this to happen is very traumatic for many people."

Just about everyone, it seems, in Randolph, a town of about 5,000, knew Brooke or her family. Yesterday, as authorities accused her uncle, Michael Jacques, of trying to lure her into a sex ring a week before she was found dead, the town grieved.

"We're all just heartsick," said Kerry Brown, who refereed Brooke's basketball games at Randolph Union High School. "She had a dazzling smile and an awesome 3-point shot. She had presence on the basketball court, and when she was on the floor, the team was hers. And she had great promise."

Randolph's elected officials, pastors, business people, and social services officials met yesterday to try to find ways to comfort shocked parents and children. Scott Rotman, executive direct of the Boys & Girls Club, said parents were calling the club, seeking ways to talk with their children about the death.

"As soon as she went missing, the fliers went up all over the place, so even the kids who didn't know her personally felt like they did," said Rotman, who was among several townspeople interviewed by phone yesterday.

Thomas D. Anderson, US attorney for Vermont, leveled charges against Jacques of kidnapping that results in death, a federal crime that carries the death penalty. Jacques, 42, a registered sex offender, was with Brooke when she was last seen at a Cumberland Farm in Randolph on June 25. Jacques later told authorities he had left the girl at the convenience store, and footage from the store's security camera showed them leaving in opposite directions.

Citing statements from a 14-year-old girl, prosecutors allege that Jacques tricked Brooke into thinking she was going to a party and took her to his home to initiate her into a child sex ring, which he dubbed the "Breckenridge program." Police found Brooke's body on Wednesday, about a mile from Jacques's house. They are still trying to determine how she died. They said no evidence has been found to suggest the sex ring was substantial.

"Everybody's just kind of in shock," Rotman said.

On Wednesday evening, 300 residents who had planned to pray for Brooke's safe return circled the town gazebo in mourning as word spread that her body had been discovered. The mourners included Brooke's mother, Cassandra Gagnon, relatives, teachers and friends, many from Brooke's hometown of Braintree, which borders Randolph.

"Brooke Marie, I love you so much," Gagnon told the crowd. "I just ask that justice be done for the person who took my baby away."

In affidavits unsealed yesterday, authorities accused Jacques of posting messages on Brooke's MySpace page, purportedly from Brooke, suggesting that she planned a June 25 rendezvous with someone she had met online. Authorities say Jacques also planted evidence, including some of Brooke's clothing and a plastic bag containing semen, to make it appear someone else had abducted the girl. The semen came from the boyfriend of the 14-year-old witness, but he has not been charged with any crimes, authorities said.

Authorities say Jacques, who was convicted of kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault in Vermont in 1993, also sexually assaulted the 14-year-old girl over a five-year period. The girl, who is related to Jacques, said she and Brooke watched television for a while in Jacques' house on June 25 before Jacques told her to leave and took his niece upstairs. She said she left the house and did not see Brooke again.

Brooke's former stepfather, Raymond Gagnon, who lives in Texas and was visiting Vermont, was charged Wednesday with obstructing justice in the case. According to the affidavit, Raymond Gagnon told police he used Brooke's MySpace page from a computer at his San Antonio home after getting her login information from Jacques. It was not clear why he was logging on to the website or if he played a role in the girl's death; authorities said their investigation was continuing.

The Rev. Robin Junker, associate pastor at Bethany Church in Randolph, was among community leaders who formed a "crisis response team" yesterday to help the town cope. The group printed lanyards and buttons identifying themselves as members of the team and leaflets with phone numbers for counseling services, which they plan to distribute at the town's Fourth of July parade today. They scheduled a townwide meeting Monday and launched a website, randolphcares.org.

"There's a lot of gifted and wonderful people here, and we're not going to be defined by this," Junker said. "This is something we will respond to, and respond to with hope and strength."

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.