Safe haven turned into nightmare for 2 Mpls. kids

The girl and her brother weren't yet of school age when their mother died in 2003. They had nowhere to go until an aunt took them into her Minneapolis home and raised them as her own.

But the house on Dupont Avenue N. turned out to be anything but a safe haven for the siblings, authorities said.

Instead, it was where they endured five years of horrific sexual abuse on a near-daily basis, according to charges filed Wednesday. The alleged abuser was an adult cousin who, according to the charges, bribed them for their silence with candy -- sometimes in the middle of the acts.

Vanlenzeo D. Brent, 29, was charged in Hennepin County District Court with 10 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. He was arrested Wednesday night and jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail.

"These kids lost their family, and this was the only family they had," said Lt. Greg Reinhardt, head of the Minneapolis police child abuse unit. "You assume, when you go to a new home, you're safe and secure. In this case, no. These kids were assaulted."

The abuse allegedly persisted until Brent moved out in 2008. In May of that year, police arrested him on suspicion of sexually assaulted a young woman, police said on Thursday. The woman, described by police as a "vulnerable adult" with a functional IQ of 33, told authorities that Brent used candy to lure her to his home.

Brent eventually went to prison for third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving the vulnerable adult. Still, the children kept their silence.

Had 'candy stash'

Charges say that soon after the girl, born in 1997, and her brother, born in 1998, moved to their aunt's house, Brent began kissing and fondling her, and then raped her. He often gave her candy after the assaults, the complaint said.

The girl added that she saw Brent rape her younger brother. When the boy cried out in pain, Brent allegedly used the "candy stash" to keep him quiet.

In interviews, the boy stopped short of saying he was assaulted. He told authorities that he recalled waking up to the sound of the defendant's mother telling her son to leave the boy alone. The boy said he was concerned about talking about the incidents for fear of being punished by Brent's mother. He added in a note to an investigator that Brent tried to kiss him and have sex with him. In a later face-to-face interview, he would not accuse Brent of raping him.

The complaint noted that the boy "was both cautious and hesitant to disclose."

Reinhardt said investigators didn't know whether the children's aunt was aware of the sexual assaults. It's not being looked into, he said, because "the issue is Brent's actions."

Reinhardt said he didn't know whether any government agencies were involved in placing the children with their aunt. Even if an agency was involved, it probably would not have had a reason to stop the 2003 placement because Brent did not have any sex offenses on his record then, Reinhardt noted.

"Now they're safe," Reinhardt said. "He can't hurt them anymore."