A man convicted of abducting a 5-year-old girl in 1989 is back in prison after authorities learned he had unsupervised contact with children.
Melissa Brannen vanished during a holiday party at a Lorton, Virginia, apartment complex and has never been found.
Caleb Hughes was convicted of abduction with intent to defiler and was paroled in 2019 after serving 29 years of a 50-year sentence.
After his release, Hughes moved to Rocky Mount, Virginia, where sources familiar with the investigation say he came up with an elaborate false cover story and befriended coworkers with young children. He was arrested after one of those coworkers found Hughes listed on the Virginia sex offender registry.
According to a source familiar with the investigation, Hughes told coworkers he was a veteran whose wife died of cancer and he moved to Rocky Mount to escape the sad memories. As friendships between Hughes and his coworkers grew, he offered to babysit the children.
Tammy Brannen — Melissa’s mom — said she was contacted by one of the parents who learned Hughes true identity.
“I don’t know the extent of what may have happened to those children, but those children, at a minimum, were placed in danger, and it was just extremely upsetting to me that he would be given that opportunity to do that again to another child,” Brannen said.
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A source familiar with the investigation said Hughes babysat a 9-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl multiple times during a five-month span.
As a victim, Brannen said, she is privy to certain information and was also told the parole board began an investigation and the parents of the children were asked to turn over photos of gifts Hughes allegedly gave the children.
“They had been requested to submit pictures of all of these gifts and pictures of his presence and pictures of him playing with the kids in the pool,” Brannen said.
In a statement, the Virginia Department of Corrections said, “The referenced individual was arrested on May 31, 2024, for violating sex offender special instructions. Those special instructions included not having contact with anyone under the age of 18.”
“You know, we did try to get him civilly committed once his maximum sentence was up, and that proposal was rejected because he was determined not to be a threat,” Brannen said.
Police investigate Hughes for disappearance of Melissa
In December 1989 and through most of 1990, Hughes was the subject of an intense investigation.
Police quickly identified him as a person of interest who attended the holiday party.
Prosecutors discovered what they described as incriminating fibers in his car and a gap in time he was unable to account for the night Melissa disappeared.
Hughes’ new release date is in 2039.
A source familiar with the investigation said parole agents questioned the parents and the children and the children have been receiving counseling.
In order to protect the children, News4 is not revealing where Hughes worked.
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