Fritz Busch
NEW ULM – Seven felony criminal sexual conduct charges were filed in three complaints Sept. 29, 2023 in Brown County District Court against a 65-year-old Sleepy Eye man accused of having sexual contact with three teenage girls as long as 33 years ago.
Charges against Douglas A. Vanoverbeke, 321 Maple St. S.E. include two counts of 2nd-degree criminal sexual conduct-under 16-significant relationship, contact under 14 – actor more than three years older; two counts of 1st-degree criminal sexual conduct victim under 13 and two counts of victim under 16, significant relationship.
Vanoverbeke’s bail was set at $300,000 without conditions, $150,000 with conditions including no contact with victims or persons under 18. A Zoom hearing was set for 8:30 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 10.
According to court documents, during a separate investigation by Sleepy Eye Police, law enforcement became aware of sexual misconduct allegations against Vanoverbeke. A witness said he touched her daughter, under age 14 at the time, a relative by marriage with a significant relationship, at a family function in rural Sleepy Eye a couple years earlier.
Brown County Investigator Andrew Konechne called the witness on Aug. 31, 2023 and asked if the victim would be willing to discuss the incident with Vanoverbeke. The witness said the victim would write a letter about what happened and get it to Investigator Konechne.
In a letter received a few days later, the victim said she was at a graduation party at a family member’s residence on May 28, 2022, she was looking for a place ot sit and Vanoverbeke invited her ot sit on his lap.
The victim said she said “no” but Vanoverbeke grabbed her arm and pulled her onto his lap and she sat on his hands. The victim said she tried to get up a couple times but Vanoverbeke pulled her onto his lap, before she got away and hid behind a tree.
Investigator Konechne called the witness and asked if the victim would talk about her experience in a Child and Family Advocacy Center (CFAC) interview. The victim met with a forensic interviewer on Sept. 6, 2023.
The victim told the same story to forensic interviewer and added that Vanoverbeke grabbed her butt over her clothes when she tried to get away. The victim said after she got away from Vanoverbeke, she texted her mother about leaving.
On Sept. 27, 2023, Sleepy Eye Police Investigator Shawn Bohnen became aware of alleged sexual misconduct involving an adult victim who was abused as a child by Vanoverbeke.
The victim agreed to meet with Sleepy Eye Police Officer Meyer and Investigator Bohnen at at the Brown County Sheriff’s Dept. on Sept. 28, 2023.
The victim said she lived in Springfield with Vanoverbeke from 1989 to 1994 and was age 10-15 during that time. She said she and her mother moved to a different residence in Springfield.
The victim said she experienced sexual abuse including sexual penetration resulting in injury at about age five and that the sexual abuse continued throughout her childhood.
The victim said the sexual assaults occurred once or twice a week when she and her mother moved to Springfield in 1989. The victim said Vanoverbeke would set alarms to ensure sexual assaults continued throughout the night when she was ages 10 and 11.
In addition, the victim said Vanoverbeke threatened to kill many different people if she told anyone about the sexual assaults. As the victim got older, she said she violently resisted the sexual assaults. She estimated she was sexually assaulted 260 times over the 10 years she lived with Vanoverbeke in Springfield.
Vanoverbeke admitted to Investigator Konechne and Bohnen that he sexually assaulted the victim numerous times from when she was eight or nine years told until she was 17 years old, in Marshall, Springfield and Shreveport, La.
In August and September, 2023, Investigator Bohnen learned about allegations that Vanoverbeke allegedly inappropriately touched a juvenile girl with whom he had a significant relationship. Bohnen contacted the CFAC and scheduled a forensic interview on Sept. 27, 2023.
At the interview, the victim was emotional, crying, nervous and she had “flash backs” about what happened to her. She said that sexual abuse happened to her one time, when she was about age five in 2011, sleeping over at Vanoverbeke’s house in Sleepy Eye.
The victim said when she was 12 or 13, she saw Vanoverbeke touch other family members late at night when they were sleeping in his living room.