By GLEN WERLING
A preliminary plea of not guilty has been entered in Wells Circuit Court for Brian Randy Vanauken, 40, Fort Wayne, charged with 16 felony counts of sex offenses against a child.
Vanauken is facing three counts of child molesting, all Level 1 felonies, one count of promotion of sexual trafficking, a Level 3 felony; one count of sexual misconduct with a minor, a Level 4 felony; six counts of child solicitation, all Level 4 felonies; and five counts of child solicitation, all Level 5 felonies.
Judge Kent Kiracofe set Vanauken’s bond at $230,000. He informed the court that he wished to retain his own lawyer and did not want a court-appointed attorney.
A pre-trial conference has been set for 9 a.m. June 15.
At 1:29 a.m. on July 18, 2021, a Bluffton police officer pulled over a black BMW after noticing the vehicle was weaving within its lane. The officer spoke with the male driver, whom he discovered was actually too young to drive. Vanauken was reportedly the passenger in the front seat of the car.
Vanauken allegedly told the officer he was permitting the boy to drive in an effort to teach him how to drive. The officer observed that Vanauken was a Fort Wayne resident, the boy was a Bluffton resident, and there was no relational connection between the two.
Concerned something nefarious was up, the officer requested assistance and other police officers arrived. The two were separated and questioning of the two continued. It was determined that some of the answers the boy was giving were not truthful. The boy claimed that Vanauken was a friend of his mother’s but Vanauken allegedly claimed to have met the boy online.
Vanauken claimed that the boy was a friend of his, but given that the boy was so young and Vanauken was 40, officers became even more suspicious.
Because the boy was out past curfew and because Vanauken had permitted the boy to drive his BMW, Vanauken was held on a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Upon his arrest, an officer allegedly found a small container of marijuana tucked in one of his socks. Because of that, he was also charged with possession of marijuana, a Class A misdemeanor.
Vanauken’s cell phone was seized and a search warrant was obtained for the phone.
A search of the phone allegedly turned up 939 messages between the boy and Vanauken detailing a variety of sexual activities between the boy and Vanauken.
When confronted with the evidence, the boy allegedly admitted to having met Vanauken on the website “Grinder” but then switched to communicating with him through Snapchat. The boy also allegedly admitted to having exchanged oral sex with Vanauken in exchange for marijuana on at least two occasions.
He added that on the day in which the vehicle was pulled over, no sexual activity had occurred between the two.
glenw@news-banner.com
