You Just Can’t Make This Shit Up!

Police said Michael Jacques, 42, of Randolph, had been identified as a person of interest in the disappearance of Brooke Bennett. Jacques, a registered sex offender, was one of the last people to see Bennett before she vanished. He pleaded not guilty to aggravated sexual assault and is being held on $250,000 bail in connection with the other case Monday.

The alleged victim in that case was a girl who said Jacques assaulted her over a five-year period, beginning when she was 9-years-old and ending a few weeks ago, Orange County State’s Attorney Will Porter said. In an affidavit, Vermont State Police Detective Sgt. William Jenkins said the girl told police that when she was 9 or 10, she was told - in a telephone call and in a note left under her pillow - that she had been selected for enrollment in a “program for sex” and that Jacques was to be her trainer. The charge was filed as a result of the investigation into Bennett’s disappearance, but Bennett wasn’t the victim, police said.

Jacques, who is married to the sister of Bennett’s mother, dropped Bennett off at a Cumberland Farms convenience store in Randolph on Wednesday after she told family members she was going to meet a friend and visit a relative of the friend’s at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H..

Police believe that was a lie, and that Bennett may have been bound for a meeting with an unknown individual she had been communicating with through MySpace.com, the social networking site. On Friday, Vermont State Police director James Baker said the MySpace communications were the main focus of the probe.

Surveillance video from the store showed Bennett and Jacques leave the store and go in separate directions.

Bennett, who just finished seventh grade at Randolph Union High School, has not been seen since. She is the subject of Vermont’s first-ever Amber Alert, which was issued Friday.

In court Monday, a pallid Jacques - handcuffed and shackled at the waist - entered a not guilty plea through public defender L. Brooke Dingledine, who persuaded Judge Theresa DiMauro to grant bail over the objections of Porter.

Jacques has convictions for kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault and there is “a threat of prejudicial violence to this particular juvenile complainant,” said Porter, in arguing for no bail. “Her personal safety was threatened.”

He also noted the serious nature of the crime, which could lead to a life prison term, and said Jacques had violated his probation.

“There’s no condition or series of conditions that could guarantee the safety of the juvenile complainant in this case,” said Porter.

Dingledine said Jacques has a full-time job as an operations manager for a company in West Lebanon, N.H., owns his home and a rental property next door, has strong family ties and a family that depends on his income.

DiMauro said she was considering barring Jacques from leaving the county, but Dingledine - who called the corroborating evidence on the sex charge “very sparse” - said he needed to get to work. So the judge ordered a 24-hour curfew - except for work - if he makes bail.

Relatives of Bennett watched from the gallery as Jacques made his appearance.

Vermont State Police called in state police units from Connecticut and Massachusetts and planned to use helicopters and dogs to search Jacques’ home.

Brooke Bennett has brown hair with purple streaks and blue eyes. She’s 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs just under 100 pounds. Police said she was last seen wearing blue jeans, a pink sweater and white sneakers.