Sleepy Eye man accused of multiple sexual assaults due in court next month

A Sleepy Eye man accused of sexually assaulting at least three minor girls is due in court on November 7.

Douglas VanOverbeke, 65, was charged in September in three different cases in Brown County.

In August, a mother reported that VanOverbeke had inappropriately touched her daughter at a family graduation party in May 2022.

The victim, who was under the age of 14 at the time of the alleged incident, told investigators she was looking for somewhere to sit when VanOverbeke invited her to sit on his lap.  The victim said she tried to resist, but VanOverbeke grabbed her arm and made her sit on his hands.  According to a criminal complaint, VanOverbeke began “grabbing her butt” when she tried to get away.  The victim said she bolted and hid behind a tree, then contacted her mother.

Van Overbeke is charged with three counts of 2nd-degree criminal sex in that case.

In September, two other victims accused VanOverbeke of sexually assaulting them repeatedly as children.

One woman told investigators the sexual abuse she suffered started when she was approximately five years old and “included sexual penetration that resulted in injury.”  The woman moved to Springfield in 1989 with her mother and VanOverbeke.  The complaint says the abuse in Brown County happened when the victim was 10 to 15 years old.

The victim recalled being abused by VanOverbeke while moving boxes were still unpacked in their Springfield home. The criminal complaint says VanOverbeke would set alarms to ensure the sexual assaults could continue throughout the night, and he would play music and light candles.  The victim told investigators VanOverbeke threatened to kill “many different people” if she told anyone he molested her. The abuse allegedly continued through 1994, when the victim and her mother moved to a different home in Springfield.

Police say VanOverbeke admitted to sexually assaulting the victim on numerous occasions from the time she was eight or nine years old until she was 17 years old. He’s been charged with two counts of 1st-degree criminal sexual conduct in relation to that victim.

A third victim reported to investigators that VanOverbeke had molested her during a sleepover at his Sleepy Eye home. The victim, who was five years old at the time, was sleeping on VanOverbeke’s couch when she woke up feeling his hand on her leg, according to the complaint.  She told investigators she remained silent out of fear as VanOverbeke digitally penetrated her.

The complaint says the victim also witnessed VanOverbeke inappropriately touch other family members who slept at his house.  He was charged with two additional counts of 1st-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Court documents say VanOverbeke had a significant relationship with each of his victims.  The Brown County Attorney’s Office is seeking an aggravated sentence due to the nature of his alleged crimes.