In court papers, Jacques accused of falsifying Web posts:
Yesterday when I posted about the discovery of Brooke Bennett’s body I wasn’t sure if her body was found on her uncle’s property or not. It turns out a fresh grave was discovered on a rural road just off of Michael Jacques’ property.
Now here’s the reason I didn’t want to post Brooke Bennet’s MySpace, it was in fact a fake. Police say that Jacques is the one who changed Brooke’s account to make reference to how she was supposedly leaving Vermont for Texas to meet someone. Jacques even told police about the MySpace in an attempt to throw them off the track.
By the time I post this (as I am writing it Thursday morning) Jacques may have already been charged with federal kidnapping. If also charged with federal murder Jacques could be looking at the death penalty. The feds may have jurisdiction since I believe tampering with someone’s MySpace like that on order to hide a crime may be a federal offense.
Now on to Brooke’s former stepfather Ray Gagnon. He’s been arrested for destroying evidence. That evidence turned out to be a laptop filled with child porn. Gagnon called his landlord back in Texas and asked him to destroy the computer. Gagnon also had a hand in altering Brooke’s MySpace after speaking with Jacques. Gagnon is also looking at federal charges but as of now those charges aren’t clear but I would assume they would also be for tampering with Brooke’s MySpace.
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TY SANDY!
Melanie You are very welcome! some of Us loose sight of the issues at hand…some here get a little too judgemental here for my my point of view..Sandy
thorswitch,i am very sorry u went through what u did. What should have been said to u was that sex ia a beautiful expression of love between 2 concenting adults. Not that *it is bad and all boys want sex!* that was the wrong approach for your parents to take. i try to teach my children to listen to your heart not your hormones. And not to be confused with love and lust, 2 very different things.
i totally agree with u, i was just trying to exlpain why i feel the way i do, and i guess they did not want to hear it ;(
Sandy – I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, and have also been a volunteer for a rape crisis center, have done alot of reading and research, and advocated for legislative change – so a lot of what I blog is not purely opinion – it is fact based, and how the whole cycle of abuse works.
If you think my comments are judgemental, it is because I was trying to prove a point to Melanie.
Until you have been in someone’s shoes, you cannot know, and therefore, have no right to judge.
There are two women in this particular situation – Brooke’s Mom, and the 14 year old’s Mom – Denise I think her name is.
While, I agree that Denise should have known something was going on – that does not mean Brooke’s mom should have. She did not let Brooke go to this man’s house, she did not allow him to hang around with her, she did not allow her on the computer and myspace.
All of that was contrived by the Uncle – Denise’s husband.
I take offense to blaming a mother for the murder of her daughter, when we do not know the whole story or all of the details. And since I know first hand how complicated these situations can be, I try to educate other people, even tho’ they may never understand because they have not been in that situation. Hind sight is always 20/20.
If you’re opinions are so etched in stone, that they will not change, then do not expect to learn how these things work, and what we can do to change them. There will always be sexual abuse – it has occurred since time began. All we can do is try to educate and protect, but passing judgement does no good especially under these circumstances.
Once again Laurie because My opinion differs from your “Iam being Judgemental “of the Mothers,,One has to assume responsiblity what occcurs in ones home..Flat out Bottom line! at the end of the day we have got to assumr responsibility for our own judgement..I do not agree with you and thats fine,,I respect your right to your opinion..and Think what you do is wonderful..I too once worked for a rape hot line and didn’t do too well with it..but when it comes to defenseless children I will take a stance and voice my opinion,,My opinions are not etched in stone either..if this woman had nothing to do with this I will be a first to publically aplogize,,until then she is involved and that is my opinion..I wil leave you to your ideas..but ganging up on person isn’t very nice either..laurie you and Pat both ganged up on Melanie..you may not see it that way but that is how I saw it and education doesn’t prove you to be right My Dear..allow people their own opinion and be nice about it! you sound a bit condescending in my eyes and I for one don’t appreciate it,,now as I have said if this Mother is indeed innocent I will apologize to her pubically and to you as well..this is still my opinion..and Iam entitled to it.
*Now a lot of you have been questioning why Brooke’s mother would leave her alone around a known sex offender. She had this to say…
Gagnon says she never allowed her daughter to visit Jacques house if another adult wasn’t present. So, she did go to his house, it was stated her and his daughter were close friends and hung out all the time. And the father also said he had noticed some people on her myspace that he did not approve of, so u maybe YOU should get the facts straight Laurie.
what is killing me is that Brooke was Murdered..Her Aunt and Mother may have been in complete denial..God only knows what happened in the AUNT’S house,,well I take that back we know that over 100 sexual assaults happened in that house…how do you excuse the fact that the Mother walks in on child naked in a towel and KY there and she does nothing? Help me with this..I do not understand how at that point nothing was done???
bacause most women in that situation want to believe more than anythIng, that the man they love would never cross that line. Ii is always the Children that suffer, i have sat in court many times, and the women chose to believe their husbands over their daughters . It is a sad story that continues to happen everyday, and until we as mothers break this cycle, it will continue. Are we so afraid of being alone?
I think everyone should focus on this fact of the crime :Has anyone noticed that Jacques “successfully” completed the state sex offender rehabilitation program. Give me a break!!!!! If he had served his full sentence (20 years) he would still be in jail and these children would be alive and whole.
No matter who else is to blame – this would not have happened if our justice system worked. Rape should be punishable by life in prison without possiblity of parole – period.
This is My point Mel…there are women who are just blind and desperate for the love of a man,,doesn’t always matter what kind of man,,sadly yes the children suffer..in this case 2 sisters married sex offenders..this just makes no sense to me..unfortunately these women will pay the rest of their lives knowing it was one of their husbands who did this horrendous murder..poor baby girl..I just can take wondering what she went thru before she died..I guess the answers will come in time..I feel so bad for women who are this weak, its sad..so very sad
We need to make sex offender do the time given,,and you are so right Paige,,the program was bs,,he did the program knowing it would get him out of jail..I do not believe these men can be rehabilitated..maybe Iam wrong..in this case no..and what is scary is that there are many more just like him walking the street..yes we need to reform our justice system..
yes, i agree, and i also agree with paige, i know u r only considered a registered sex offender if there was penetration, i think we should be warned of All molestations by people., It goes by different degrees, the laws need to change. I know sex offenders walking the streets in my town right now, i go to the police station once a week and look for new releases in the books. For my town and the next town over, because it is in another state from mine. Ths man NEVER should have been on the streets to begin with. but unfortunatly, there r many more of him walking the streets, so the need to protect our children is more important than ever. In Rhode Island, we have no sex offend registry online, because it “invades the privacy of the offender” but they will send notices when the move into your neighborhood
This is the first thing I did when I moved to the rural town I live in..this is a very small town indeed and I found out od maybe 150 people 10 are registered sex offenders,,how can we worry about the rights of the offender? God help Us all when this is the priority! where are Brooke’s rights? she didn’t have any, this is just to much to comprehend,,,
thatswhy i have taught my daughter that u need to watch everything that is going on around u. And i know she is 12, but it is never 2 young to start. And if u think i am “damaging my child” i would rather have her damaged than dead! She has been through counseling and i have gotten her mentors, because of probs with her dad. I do what needs to be done. If that makes me a bad parent in some peoples eyes, i am sorry.
My Husband is a Homicide Det for LA sheriffs dept and he would tell you to not only protect your daughter but for you as well to be aware of everything going on around you..He once asked me” Sandy what does a murderer look like? He said they look like you and Me! that taught me a lot..no one is safe today that is why we have to be aware of everyone and everything around Us as sad as that is this is life today,,I hate La and said when you retire come up here LOL..
Its far worse than it was when we were growing up, it is hard to find that fine line between scaring children and teaching them. My lil girl wanted to bring a bike to her friends the other day, but she had to go a street over to do it, I said no, she got mad, But 15 mins later, she came to me, gave me a hug and said, i know u just wanted me to be safe mom, and that her going on the street was not a good idea. I am here to be her best friend, but most importantly to still be here mom first and foremost! There is no handbook with being a parent, but we do need to use some commom sense. Wrong is wrong . I was never a parent that said ” not my child”, it was more like, which one, where , when, and how lmaom I do not live in a fantasy world where my kids will, and never have gotten in trouble. I have had to have my own son arrested beause he was running with a gang and doing drugs. D o i feel bad? no, Does he hate me? yes. He will get over it in time. Being a parent is not an easy job. But teahing right from wrong is.
kis may not like what a parent has to do but you are so right you have to use desperate measures sometimes as a parent..this isn’t a popularity conest to be the best friend,,it is simply Our Job to know where they are at all times,,kids lie to your face I know they do I did it myself, but I was lucky that I wasn’t in todays world,,the 60′s were an rather innocent time. but what happend to Brooke happens everyday,,Just like Fathers wiping out his entire family,,these are scary times and they call for desperate measures..so I say Im with You! if my kids don’t like me being able to tell them what is right from wrong then Im a bad Mom Too,,
They will understand someday, my oldest , who is 27 now, told me the song that reminds her of me, is Wind Beneath My Wings, and that i was not only her mom, but her best friend. We went through many hard times together, but what she said to me meant more to me in the world than anything. So i must be doing something right as a parent.
You are doing something right you are being a loving, protective Mom and I find today Our parents are so wrapped up in their own world that kids are left to computers and hand games and video’s..no time for the kids,,I say get them outside, get them involed in whatever intrests them,,and pay attention to your kids friends, with us as parents hpw do they feel loved and protected,,many young rirls turn to sex at such a young age,,because they are looking for love..sad what a sweet gesture from your daughter..that was my song played at her funeral,,sweet song..to think Brooke will never get the chance to grow up nreaks my heart..so sad, so needless.. so wrong,,,
night Melanie,,nice chatting with you..
nite hun, nice chatting with u also
sleep well.
Melanie – if you go back through this blog, you were the one who started attacking. No one has said that you are a bad mom – all that was said was that we should not pass judgement on anyone else until we have walked in their shoes. Everyone lives there life differently, and if we put ourselves in the position to judge others, we should be careful, because the day will come when we are judged as well.
Sexual abuse has been around since time began, it is no different now than it was when I was a child – back in the 50′s. The population is larger – that is one of the multitude of reasons why there is more crime.
This is not a new phenomena – it is in the news more. Rape was not even a crime until the 70′s.
I will not judge this mom, until all the facts are out. Then I will make a decision.
Sandy – you need to go back to the beginning of this blog, to see where the judging starts.
And Melanie – what you stated above, in lieu of why the mom is at fault, i.e. she went to the house with another adult, the daughters were friends – does not mean the Mom is to blame in this. What a terrible terrible thing to lay on someone. Don’t you think she is suffering enough? The Mom may have been naive – but she did not cause Brooke’s death. Her uncle, and the State of VT, in my opinion, are more to blame. Initially you were saying the daughter was on myspace, unsupervised, and that the mom was allowing the daughter to be around the offender, unsupervised. This is not the case.
And, as I said before, what good does blame and judgement do, other than to make us feel superior, and give us a false sense of security in that nothing like this would ever happen to our child because we do not allow certain things. Well, in many cases, many kids with good parents have been abused.
I’m not trying to say that Brooke’s mother and the other woman are totally innocent in Brooke’s death, but I’m also not going to jump to the conclusion that they aren’t, either. I simply don’t feel I have enough information one way or the other to make such a conclusion. All I know is what is reported in the news media, and that’s generally determined by which questions a reporter does or doesn’t ask. Until I have more info, a clearer context or we start getting information from the court records, however, I’m going to give the women the benefit of the doubt. You know, innocent until proven guilty and all that.
There’s one thing I’ve seen mentioned and I think that maybe the possible ramifications of it – or the effect that it may have had on Brooke’s mother or the other woman – have not really been taken into account. Jacques was given early release by the state of Utah, and – they claimed – he’d “successfully” completed their rehab program.
Now, those of us on this board know that sexual predators are rarely – if ever – capable of being rehabilitated, but not everyone knows or believes it – as evidenced by the the fact that some states have rehab programs – and, like in Utah, will consider giving early release to prisoners who “successfully” finish the program. Isn’t it possible that Brooke’s mother and the other woman were among those who believed rehab is possible and essentially took the state of Utah at it’s word that he was rehabilitated and “safe” enough to be released early? It’s possible that due, at least in part, to Utah’s actions, these women weren’t able to fully appreciate just how dangerous he really was.
We also really don’t know all that much about what kind of rules she set for Brooke – especially in regard to Brooke spending time with her friend over at Jacques’. She has said that Brooke was never to be over at Jacques’ without another adult present. The question then, is how she would know whether or not the rule was being followed. In general, it’s unlikely that it would have been feasible for her to be over at Jacques’ all the time – every time – Brooke went there. Additionally, if she truly believed that he’d been rehabilitated and that Utah wouldn’t have let him out on early release otherwise, she may not have considered him to as significant of a threat as he turned out to be. As such, she may not have been overly concerned if, on a few occasions, the second adult wasn’t around. Either way, unless she’d been at Jacques every time Brooke was over there, then all she really would have had to go on was what Brooke and/or Jacques told her, and we don’t know how forthright either would be. If Brooke was afraid that her mom would forbid her from being able to spend time at her friends’ home again should she (the mom) find out that there were times when there wasn’t a 2nd adult present, she may not have told her mother the truth, and Jacques’ motive for lying would be continued access to Brooke.
There’s one last thing to consider. Here, on this board, we will all make opinions about each other pretty early on, but as we discuss various topics and take time to explain what our thoughts are and why we think that way, that opinion can change. Questions can be asked, misunderstandings can be hashed out, thoughts or beliefs defended. As such, we can get a better opinion of who each other is, and if initial judgments are found to be wrong, they can quickly be reevaluated. We don’t have that opportunity with Brooke’s mother. We can’t ask her what she did or didn’t know, or what she did or didn’t do. The only context we have by which to judge their actions is that which the reporters give us. Neither Brooke’s mom nor the other woman can’t defend or explain themselves, and, to me, I can’t condemn them outright on such scant information. As we learn more about the situation, my opinion may change – just as how our opinions of each other change based on what we learn about each other.
Laurie and Pat,,,shall we all put our Big Girl Panties on and simply agree to disagree,, we are entitled to our own opinions,, while I respect you opinion, I simply do not agree with all of what you say,,no disrespect intended… Sandy
Laurie I do know where you are coming from not only was I sexuall molested by 2 different men but My daughter was molested by her Grandfather, my husbands Father,,so I argree no matter how you protect a child it is not always apparent the abuse is occuring..I could have never known this was happening,,I did not find out until my daughter was 19 years old..oddly enough the gentleman who continued to come ino his daughters room every time I stayed the night died of a heart attack a week after the molestation..but there was another man waiting in the wings to do the same,,I knew right from wrong and ran home in the middle of the night in sheer panic and My Mother called the police..Im glad I didn’t hold it in as my daughter did this breaks my heart..I have a “GUT” feeling the Aunt and Mother may have known plenty and Im sorry if this offends You but this is what I think..no disrespect intended to You or Pat..
Okay then Sandy – how would you feel if someone now decides to blame you for what happened to your daughter? And holds you responsible?
None of us knows what really happened at this point. The Aunt – I agree, when she found the KY jelly, her daughter in a towel, and her husband home, she should have at the very least, immediately suspected something.
But – Brooke’s mom is a different story.
Until the facts are in, we should withhold judgement. Passing judgement like this onto someone is more damaging than helpful. Trying to get people to come forward about this issue is very difficult, and if we make accusations and throw blame around, the issue will continue to be swept under the rug.
There are degrees of guilt, and there is a difference between not knowing, suspecting, wondering, and knowing.
It is very frustrating when people think they know how the whole cycle of abuse works, when they have no clue as to how complicated it really is. If you go back through this blog, which I hope you have read from the beginning, for me the major point is to educate people about the safety of their children. Giving people false hope that if they follow the database, and know where their children are, they will never be abused, is not the way it is. We need to know that even with all of our safety precautions, something could still happen. That is why prevention and trauma treatment are so important. If the Mom was educated on the evils of predators, and knew all the ins and outs of sexual abuse, and then she allowed her daughter to visit a predator, then I would say, yes, you know what? She is to blame.
As far as agreeing to disagree – for me, as a childhood sexual abuse survivor, who was abused at the age of 7 by a neighbor, It angers me when people misconstrue what has happened because finding out the truth is so important. And you, as a survivor of being molested, should know how important affirmation and validity are.
So, it is not about disagreeing. In my mind, it is about educating and possibly saving someone a lot of heartache and trauma.
When people start blaming someone, and rumors and false ‘facts’ get thrown around, this is not useful – can be heartbreaking. We need to work with the truth to help people heal.
We need to work with the truth and the real facts to keep children and ourselves, safe.
I doubt highly I would appreciate being labled at fault but on the other hand I didn’t leave her with sexual preditors..at least I thouht I did ..if I knew my Gather in Law was capable of sexual assaul or he has a known felony record I would never have let the man around him Period..again while I agree with most of what you say but I think the mom and Aunt knew more than is being said, they may have thought he was rehabilitated and love is blind however it just seems a deadly combination to me..they had the information they needed,,they Knew of his criminal back ground,,do you think he was rehabilitated..do you think Mom was not aware of his record?
Laurie for one I have never said that the Woman killed her child! what I have said all along is that she knew what she married as did her sister,,my question is,,How then do you allow this man around your young daughter?that is my problem how did this go on for so many years right under her nose? is there proof that she had no clue about his criminal record?? have I misses something? if so that would alter my opinion completely..
where did i ever say that she left Brooke “alone” with him? I said any contact, supervised or NOT should have happened with his record. And the father was the one monitoring her myspace, if u had watched the interviews on tv before she was found, you would remember that. The mom said nothing except, she was at work, and always knew where her kids were.
Sandy, I am not nor have I been objecting to a different opinion. I have, however, been reacting to the tone of Melanie’s postings which I should not have done the way I did. I suggest that if Melanie does not want people “ganging” up on her (as you characterized it) or people are offended in the way others react to Melanie, then Melanie needs to consider how her postings are worded or expressed as, at least to me, there are very inflammatory, argumentative, insulting and judgmental.
My point from the beginning of this has been simple: rather than attacking an “innocent” woman (until you can prove to me that she participated in the abduction, abuse and/or death of her daughter somehow other than being too trusting/ignorant/naive/etc. she will remain innocent), blame/judgment/resentment, etc should only be directed at one (maybe two) individual(s): Jacques and Gagnon. I suppose some would expect J1 to be included, but to me she was a little girl that was brainwashed and was surviving the only way she thought she could which was to do as she had been taught/told.
The system is not perfect and needs work. What that entails seems very complicated. I support the idea that once a sex offender – and I mean sex offender in terms of aggravated sexual assault, molestation, etc. and not a case of the 18 year old boyfriend having consentual sex with his 17 year old girlfriend – you are to be held in prison for the maximum possible penalty without early release or reduction for any reason. What I think is part of the problem is that hte label of sex offender is so wide in range for so many things that you wrap lots of things into a category that the punishment does not necessarily fit. For example, the statutory rape of a 17 year old girl by her 18 year old boyfriend that is reported and pursued by her parents. To me, as long as the sex was consentual obviously, that 18 year old is not a sex offender.
Thank You Pat,,I respect your stance and I too get a little heated on this subject and I am sorry for that,,again Thank You, have a good day
@ sandy
on 7/13 you commented that both mom and denise knew what they married and how could this happen under there noses. well i know the family both sides mother and father and the step father. i can tell you that i knew ray and casey before there were together. i worked with both of them. they met at work. at no time would i have ever imagined that ray would turn out to be the sick B*****d that he is. we worked were criminal back ground checks were done. he pass suposedly. as for mj and his wife. u r right how could that be missed. he is listed inthe vt registary for sex offenders. i can see casey trusting her sister not to let brooke be harmed. i guess somethings out there we all will not understand. her father and the myspace page. the myspace page he monitored he made her get rid of it. the one she had was a different one he did not know about.
to think – thank you for shedding some light on this. What you have described is usually the way it works, no one can imagine what someone really is deep inside. If only we could see people as they really are. I am sure the previous crimes committed by Jacques were downplayed.