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Crime & Safety

Man Charged After Dressing Girl in Skimpy Clothing, Walking Around Nude in Front of Kids

Suspect says he's just trying to give his girlfriend's daughter more confidence by having her dress in short shorts and cutoff tank tops.

A 34-year-old West Allis man is facing charges after he allegedly forced a young Sussex girl to wear skimpy clothing and would walk around naked in front of the girl and her siblings inside their home.

Larry C. Vandeneng was charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court Friday with one count of lewd and lascivious behavior and one count of disorderly conduct. If convicted, he faces up to one year in jail and $11,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint:

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Recently a man went to pick up his children from his ex-wife’s home in the N6500 block of Pewaukee Road when his 12-year-old daughter began telling him their mom’s boyfriend had been walking around naked in front of them all and had dresses the girl up in short shorts and a cutoff tank top.

The girl said Vandeneng had cut the shorts shorter and cut the tank top off at the bottom of the breast area and would make her wear the outfit. She said he also made her keep the top button on the shorts undone and had her fold the waistband over while wearing them.

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She said Vandeneng also forced her to drink alcohol and after she told her mother, she made the girl apologize to Vandeneng later in the day.

The man contacted the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department and she told investigators the same story and said Vandeneng would shower with the door open and walk around the house naked often. Her siblings, 10 and 6 years old, had seen him naked as well and confirmed the stories.

Deputies interviewed the girl’s mom who said she had no worries about how Vandeneng was dressing the girl, saying they were working to improve her confidence and dressing her in the skimpy clothes were more or less an exercise. When asked about him having her keep the button on her shorts undone and the waistband folded over, the woman said she didn’t think it was a “creepy thing.”

When asked about Vandeneng walking around naked, the woman said he has been around the kids for 18 months now and they should be more comfortable with them seeing him naked, saying he had already seen “all my babies naked.”

Vandeneng also said they were working to improve the girl’s confidence and he bought her her first bikini. He admitted to cutting the shorts really short, but said it was the girl’s idea to cut the tank tops short. When asked about the folded waistband, he said he saw lots of kids do it, saying he grew up around a lot of children and has been around them a lot as a coach and in church.

When asked about walking around naked, Vandeneng again admitted to doing so, saying he wanted the girl to feel more comfortable and more confident if her were to do so. He described “situational ethics” to the officers, saying some people are comfortable with certain things, while others are not and he has hung around with a lot of people who were “free spirited.”

He will make his initial appearance in court Sept. 10. 

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