WILTON MANORS — At press conference on Monday, January 28, Wilton Manors police announced the arrest of a man charged with sexual assault upon two teenagers. The minors were residents of Kids in Distress, the Northeast 26 Street-based counseling and health center with a mission to prevent child abuse, preserve families, and treat children who have been abused and neglected.

Brian Denby is charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a child 12 to 15 years old, and two counts of lewd or lascivious exhibition. Police had circulated an artist’s rendering of their suspect, which was posted around the community

Wilton Manors Police Sgt. Charles Howard told reporters that Denby encountered the teens sometime after 3 a.m. on January 7, after approaching the Kids in Distress facility. After talking with the underage victims, Denby jumped the fence and proceeded to perform sexual acts with two of the teens.

Surveillance cameras at Kids in Distress captured images of the man Howard identified as Denby walking near the shelter’s entrance, stopping to talk to the teens. Detectives say that witnesses reported him jumping the fence, and performing sexual acts with the two girls in the open.

The victims and witnesses did not inform shelter officials about the assaults until days later. Administrators alerted police once they were aware of the crimes. Howard said.

Kids in Distress serves approximately 10,000 children each year; many of them are homeless or the victims of neglect and abuse.

The victims, who were described as being in their early teens, are receiving counseling in a different care facility.

Howard told the Agenda that at least four other children witnessed the assaults. Investigators received an anonymous tip on Friday from someone who knows Denby. The informant told police that Denby had bragged about his assault upon the teens.

Detectives learned that their suspect was on a weekend cruise that had left the Port of Miami on Friday. When the ship docked on Monday morning, federal agents and Wilton Manors police were waiting for him.

Last week, administrators fired two child care workers who worked during the overnight shift for negligence in failing to keep tabs on the teenagers during the incident. Officials with the shelter say that because it is not a lock-down facility, the teens had access to the environs outside their living accommodations.  Nevertheless, the overnight care personnel should have been aware of the presence of a predator and been able to respond accordingly.