Friday, July 4, 2008 THE NEW MEXICAN C-9

Prosecutors: Deception ran deep in Vt. kidnapping

By Dave Gram
The Associated Press
BURLINGTON, Vt. — A Ver- in an affidavit that Jacques
mont man whose 12-year-old
niece was found dead near his
home carefully orchestrated
events and e-mails to make
it appear she had gone to see
someone she met online, pros-
ecutors said Thursday as they
charged him with kidnapping.
Michael Jacques, 42, could face
the death penalty under federal
law if convicted in the disap-
pearance of Brooke Bennett.
An autopsy has not confirmed
whether the girl was killed.
Citing statements from
another girl, prosecutors claim
tricked Brooke into thinking she
was going to a party and instead
took her to his Randolph home
to initiate her into a child sex
ring on June 25, the day she dis-
appeared. The girl’s body was
found Wednesday in a shallow
grave near Jacques’ house.
But no new evidence of a
wider child sex ring has been
found, beyond the claims of the
14-year-old that were released
Wednesday in another affidavit
unsealed in U.S. District Court
in Burlington, officials said.
“There’s nothing from this
investigation that’s been turned
up, nor otherwise are federal
and state authorities aware of,
any ongoing efforts to recruit
young girls or boys here in Ver-
mont to have sex with adults,”
Vermont Attorney General
William Sorrell said at a news
conference Thursday.
Authorities said they still
weren’t sure if there was a sex
ring or whether there was a
ruse Jacques might have used to
intimidate the girls.
Michael Desautels, the federal
public defender represent-
ing Jacques, didn’t return calls
Thursday.
Authorities say Jacques faked
and altered postings to Brooke’s
MySpace pages in an effort
to persuade investigators she
planned to run off with some-
one she met through the social
networking site.
The tampering was discov-
ered by the Internet Crimes
Against Children Task Force,
housed at the Burlington Police
Department.
Jacques is charged under a
federal law that provides for the
death penalty in a kidnapping
resulting in a child’s death. In
1993, he was sentenced to six to
20 years in prison after being
convicted of kidnapping and
raping an 18-year-old woman
he supervised at a Rutland
restaurant, court records show.
He successfully completed
the state’s sex offender treat-
ment program in 2000 and was
released from probation in 2006.
With autopsy results still
pending, prosecutors said they
could not say that Bennett was
killed. If she was, U.S. Attor-
ney Tom Anderson was asked
whether he would seek the
death penalty.
“That determination would
be made after the investigation
is completed, after the case is
presented to a grand jury and,
ultimately, that decision is made
by the attorney general of the
United States of America,”
Anderson said.
The FBI affidavits support
the charges against Jacques
and against Bennett’s former
stepfather, Raymond Gagnon,
who is charged with obstructing
justice.

Conflicts could rise as humans • PATIO FURNITURE •

encroach on wildlife, study finds
By Tim De Chant areas where you’re not on ’gateway communities’ are
Chicago Tribune someone else’s land,” said Justin becoming nooses that could
Brashares, assistant professor of strangle many national parks.”
CHICAGO — The execu- environmental science, policy, Not all experts agree that
tion-style killing last year of a and management at the Uni- conservation funding and tour-
gorilla family in the Democratic versity of California, Berkeley, ism are driving the observed
Republic of Congo may por- and one of the study’s two lead population growth. Many
tend future conflicts as humans authors. parks in developing nations
encroach on resource-rich Organized crime rings some- are on unproductive land away
national parks in developing times follow the money and from economic centers, noted
countries, according to authors population growth. In the case John Robinson, executive vice
of a new study. of Congo gorilla killings, local president of conservation and
The report published today authorities arrested the park science at the Wildlife Conser-
in the journal Science surveyed director who allegedly was vation Society. In some cases
strips of land surrounding pro- linked to an illegal operation population growth may happen
tected areas and found people that cut down trees in the park because poor residents “kind
are moving closer to such parks and reduced them to charcoal, a of get pushed into these park
to take advantage of economic prime cooking fuel in the region. areas,” Robinson said.
development that often stems Killing the gorillas, which are A major challenge for con-
from conservation initiatives. vital to tourism in the park, was servation groups is to balance
Yet those settlers also meant as a signal for rangers to encouragement of economic
threaten the protected areas by stop cracking down on the char- development near parks with
unlawfully cutting down trees, coal trade, investigators believe. protection of the parks them-
growing crops and hunting The study in Science collected selves, experts said.
endangered animals within park United Nations population data Barring local residents from
boundaries. from 45 African and Latin Amer- entering the parks would be
The influx of capital from con- ican countries on people living impractical and counterproduc- UP TO

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