Editor’s note: This article is by Keith Whitcomb Jr., www.benningtonbanner.com, in which it was first published Oct. 21, 2015.
BENNINGTON — A local college freshman is accused of attempting to rape a 12-year-old girl he met via Facebook.
Julian Hercules-Hackshaw, 18, of Clifton Park, N.Y., pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Vermont Superior Court to attempted sexual assault of a victim under 13, lewd and lascivious conduct with a child, and second degree unlawful restraint. The first two charges carry 10 and two-year minimum sentences respectively. Hercules- Hackshaw was ordered held until a bail hearing.
According to an affidavit by Bennington Police Detective Anthony Silvestro, on Sept. 26 he learned through the Department for Children and Families that a 12-year-old girl had, for several months, been talking through Facebook with a male she believed to be 15. The girl reported that the male had forced her against a gravestone, removed her shirt, and touched her private areas.
Silvestro interviewed the girl on Oct. 12. She said she first saw the male at the end of the 2014/2015 school year when he was standing at the entrance to the Mount Anthony Union High School cafeteria. She later received a friend request through Facebook from an account named “Julian Izzy.” He asked her if she wanted to hang out and eventually they arranged to meet behind Bennington Lanes, a bowling alley on Northside Drive. This was on Sept. 26. From there they walked behind the Knotty Pine Motel and up a road leading towards the Bennington Battle Monument.
They ended up in a cemetery behind Monument Elementary School. The girl said she had to leave, but the male told her no. He grabbed her hands and pushed her against a gravestone. He kissed her and kept telling her to “just do it,” and began to undress himself. He was also able to get two of her shirts off. The girl said she told him repeatedly “no,” and that what he was doing was rape. Eventually, she kicked him and he stopped. He then made a phone call to a friend asking for a ride and they went their separate ways.
The girl said she deleted her Facebook account as soon as she got home and has not heard from the male since. She gave police a thorough description of him involving tattoos and markings on his arm.
Silvestro said he looked at the Facebook profile of the male in question and saw a photo of a male on it wearing a sporting jacket bearing the name “Hackshaw.” The girl said he mentioned something about attending Southern Vermont College, so they checked with the school and learned Julian Hercules-Hackshaw was a freshman there.
The owner of the Knotty Pine Motel also spoke to police, saying she saw the child, whom she knows, walking with a male fitting Hercules-Hackshaw’s description. Police also found four stickers on one of the tombstones the child said would be there.
Police spoke to Hercules- Hackshaw who denied knowing the child as well as speaking to her on Facebook. He was arrested on Oct. 19.
“We cannot comment because these processes are confidential, as required by federal law. We are cooperating with the authorities on this matter,” said Susan Biggs, senior adviser/communications, at SVC.
