SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A Renner man is accused of buying expensive gifts for two young girls, sexually assaulting them and telling them to keep it a secret.
Investigators say Edgar Aaron Messenger hired the girls to do chores at his home and even paid one of them a weekly allowance, but now, years after the alleged crimes, the victims are no longer keeping quiet.
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Messenger, 44, is accused of raping two young girls whose family trusted him as a friend and babysitter.
“Both were at that relative age of nine years old when this occurred. One was just about 13 years ago. The other was four or five years ago,” Capt. Josh Phillips of the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office said.
Messenger is not related to the victims, but court documents say he told one of the girls “he was going to adopt her.”
According to the affidavit, Messenger bought “expensive gifts” for one of the girls, including a $1,500 gaming computer, a hoverboard scooter, $500 worth of nerf guns and a gaming chair.
The other victim told investigators Messenger would buy her and her other sister “whatever they wanted and would commonly take them to Walmart and let them pick out a toy and buy it for them.”
“These are types of things that they do. I would label that as grooming, kind of building a stronger relationship with that individual,” Phillips said.
Court documents say Messenger raped each girl one time in his home near Renner and that he told one victim “not to tell anyone or he would get in trouble.” He allegedly told the other victim to “keep the touching a secret.”
When authorities searched Messenger’s home, they used a special camera to take pictures of the couch where one of the victims says she was assaulted.
Court documents say they found “a smaller sized handprint from what was possibly bodily fluids.”
Authorities say more charges are possible and at this point they’re unsure if Messenger preyed on any other children.
“We don’t know that, so with your help today, hopefully, there is not any additional victims, but if there are, go to your local authority, wherever jurisdiction you live in. If you have any information that you want to provide, that will be siphoned into the sheriff’s office,” Phillips said.
Messenger appeared in court Wednesday. He’s being held on a $50,000 cash only bond.
Messenger’s criminal history includes several arrests for driving and alcohol-related offenses over the last two decades, but this is the first time he’s ever been charged with a sex crime.
