Bradenton man, 49, behind bars for sexually abusing children, cops say

A 49-year-old Bradenton man’s story denying he sexually assaulted two children under the age of 14 quickly began to unravel, cops say, and he is now behind bars.

Authorities began to investigate Duane Allen Crumb on June 12 when one of the victims came forward with the allegations that Crumb began touching them inappropriately at a young age and that the abuse continued until recently.

Cops say Crumb sexually abused the girls for over a year in a variety of ways.

During an interview with Crumb, he told Manatee County Sheriff’s investigators that he has never been in trouble with law enforcement and that he “loves (the victims) like they are his own children.”

The victims told cops that Crumb often would sit next to them on the couch or lay next to them in their bedrooms and use his hands and mouth to perform inappropriate sexual activities and they were physically unable to stop him.

He subsequently failed a lie detector test and when confronted with the results, said, “He could have brushed against the victim’s private area while playing around with them,” according to the report.

This story was originally published June 27, 2019 at 10:48 AM.