by FYIVT.com

21-year-old Burlington man held without bail this week on charges that he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl was already awaiting trial in a sexual assault case from 2023. He had been free on three conditions for nearly 10 months when the new assault allegedly happened.

Deluxe Badesi pleaded not guilty Monday to four felony charges in Chittenden County Superior Court. Court records FYIVT obtained from the court show his first case has been stalled since April, waiting on a judge’s ruling on a motion to dismiss.

A second man, Fabrice Kerozene, is charged in the 2023 case. And in a sworn affidavit filed in that case, a Burlington police detective wrote that he had charged Badesi in yet another sexual assault in 2023, of a 13-year-old.

The 2023 case

According to the State’s charging documents, Badesi, then 17, and Kerozene sexually assaulted a girl on March 24, 2023, at Kerozene’s home on North Street in Burlington. Badesi is charged with sexual assault without consent, under 13 V.S.A. § 3252(a)(1).

Burlington police searched Kerozene’s bedroom in April 2023 and obtained Snapchat records in May. They served Badesi with a court order for evidence in January 2024; he declined to be interviewed. The affidavit in the case also describes an argument between Badesi and Kerozene, partly in Swahili, about one of them having sex with a drunk girl.

The State did not sign the charge until February 14, 2025, nearly two years after the alleged assault. The adult criminal case, 25-CR-09902, was filed September 17, 2025, the same day Judge Dana DiSano denied Badesi youthful-offender status, which would have handled the case in the juvenile system.

At his arraignment on October 9, 2025, Judge Timothy Doherty Jr. released Badesi on three conditions: come to court, keep his address on file with the court, and have no contact with the alleged victim. There was no curfew, no supervision and no restriction on contact with minors. The State’s Attorney’s office filed proposed conditions the day before; FYIVT has asked what it requested.

When the judge set those conditions, the case file already contained the detective’s sworn affidavit. In it, Detective Thomas Chenette wrote that he knew Badesi “from a separate case involving sexual assault (Burlington Police case 23BU009515, reported about 5 weeks after this case). In that case, I charged Badesi and another male with the sexual assault of a 13-year-old victim.” The outcome of that case does not appear in the records FYIVT reviewed. Badesi turned 18 eight days after the March 2023 incident, and a case for an offense committed before then could have been handled in juvenile court, where records are confidential. FYIVT has asked the court and the State’s Attorney what happened in it.

State corrections records show no jail booking for Badesi before this month.

Kerozene missed a court date in December 2025. He was booked into Northwest State Correctional Facility on September 26 on a charge of sexual assault without consent and released two days later, according to corrections records.

In February, Badesi’s lawyer moved to dismiss the case. Judge Robert Katims heard the motion April 7 and took it under advisement. As of Tuesday, the court record showed no ruling. A jury draw set for October 5 was canceled.

The 2026 case

According to a sworn affidavit by a Vermont State Police detective, on August 31, Badesi picked up a 14-year-old girl in Burlington and then picked up a second man, whom the girl knew only as “Oliver.” She told investigators the two men spoke Swahili with each other, took her to an apartment, and sexually assaulted her, each holding her down while the other assaulted her. She said Badesi told her not to tell anyone and gave her emergency contraception the next day.

The girl told investigators she met Badesi about four more times afterward.

Before the girl’s interview with investigators in early November, Badesi offered her food and a place to stay so she would not go, according to the affidavit. On November 6, under a warrant signed by Judge John Pacht, police recorded three of her phone calls to Badesi. When she brought up the incident involving Oliver, the affidavit says, Badesi told her to tell investigators she does not remember.

Burlington police arrested Badesi on November 7. On Monday, in case 26-CR-12169, he was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child while joined by another person, under 13 V.S.A. § 3253a, and three counts of sexual assault of a victim under 16. The State asked that he be held without bail, and Judge Colin Owyang agreed. WCAX first reported the arrest.

The second man has not been charged. FYIVT has asked Burlington police and the State’s Attorney’s office whether he has been identified.

Who they are

Both men are Burlington High School graduates. Badesi graduated in 2023 and Kerozene in 2024, according to video of the ceremonies. A 2020 Education Week photo shows Badesi in BHS’s after-school program for English-language learners. A 2021 profile in the BHS Register describes Kerozene’s family coming to the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo, by way of Burundi, in 2019.

Kerozene played soccer at Vermont State University Johnson in the 2025 season, while his case was pending, according to the North Atlantic Conference.

What’s next

Judge Owyang will hold a hearing November 23 on whether the evidence supports holding Badesi without bail. A status conference in the 2023 case is set for the same afternoon.

FYIVT sent questions Monday to Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George, including what conditions her office sought in 2025 and whether it will charge Badesi with violating his conditions of release. She had not responded by publication.

Neither man has been convicted. The charges are allegations that the State must prove in court.