Appropriate Caution

We applaud Vermont Atty. Gen. William Sorrell for a cautionary statement he made last Thursday regarding the evidence—or lack thereof—for a "sex-ring" operating to victimize young girls in Randolph.

The stunning account that "Juvenile 1" gave to police about a shadowy "Breckenridge Program" caught national media attention, and if true it would be an extraordinary story. The 14-year-old girl told police that since the age of nine, she has been enrolled in the program, which required her to perform various sexual acts, with her uncle, Michael Jacques as "trainer." Other men and other girls were part of the program too, she said, all receiving instructions by email.

At his press conference last week, Atty. Gen. Sorrell emphasized that the very existence of the "Breckenridge program" or any other "sex ring" has not been proven, and he said that police at present do not expect more victims to come forward or more adult perpetrators to be found, he said.

Indeed it appears more than likely that Breckenridge was just another elaborate story dreamed up by Jacques to terrify the juvenile, a dark drama in which he and she were was the only actors.