The path back to freedom from a lengthy prison sentence has led a St. Thomas man back behind bars. Details found in recent arrest reports suggest that the current batch of troubles may land the accused in prison for the rest of his life.
Documents filed in Superior Court say police were summoned to the emergency room at the Roy L. Schneider Hospital on Dec. 24, 2025. A patient under treatment there said she was sexually assaulted by a relative who had recently come home from prison.
The initial investigation yielded clues to additional offenses that took place in the home just before Christmas. “During the investigation, a minor female family member told detectives that she was also sexually assaulted by Trant,” said a statement issued by the VIPD Communications Unit.
At the time of the alleged offense, Rehelio Trant had been recently released from federal prison. He was ordered to serve 71 months in 2018 after being convicted at trial as a felon in possession of a firearm.
Investigators armed with a warrant located the suspect, identified as Trant, and charged him with child sexual abuse, along with seven additional domestic violence-related offenses. At the time of the Jan. 27 arrest, the accused was housed in the Bureau of Corrections Criminal Justice Complex on St. Thomas.
The next day — on Jan. 28 — corrections officers responded to a call from a jail cell where Trant and another inmate were housed. An incident report turned over to police said that when the officers arrived, they found the cellmate bleeding from a stab wound to the neck. After evacuating the wounded man, the officers found a sharpened object they said was used to inflict the injuries.
As a result of that incident, Trant was also charged with attempted murder, assault, possession of a dangerous weapon and possession of prison contraband.
