Directory of Burlington Vermont
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Directory of Burlington Vermont
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Home :
Alternate Lifestyles :
sexual abuse and crimes
Sexual Abuse & Crimes
What does "Alternate LIfestyles" mean?
Not everyone in Burlington is a church going heterosexual that grows up, gets a job earning an honest and legal income, gets married to someone of the opposite gender, and has children by way of their sexual activity with that person. An "Alternate lifestyle" can be anything that deviates from what most of us would consider to the normal (and traditional) lifestyle that is recommended by the Lord. In fact, Burlington seems to attract many people that choose to live other life styles. I realized that there were many things I had not been sure how to categorize that would easily fit in this category.
Disclaimer: I am NOT condoning or condemning these lifestyles, by listing them on my web page. In fact, as a bible-believing Christian, the web master does not agree with any of the life styles mentioned below. But, the directory was originally designed to be a secular listing of local web sites and stories, without moral consideration or prejudice. The fact that these sites are listed is only to show the fact that the following does exist in Burlington, not to condone or condemn it. I do, however, feel a need to make it known that I DO NOT sanction any of these activities.
There are 260 Alternate Lifestyles links for you to choose from!
DNA took center stage Tuesday in the trial of Brian Rooney --
the man charged with killing UVM student Michelle Gardner-Quinn. Rooney's lawyers seized the opportunity to attack the state's case, trying to convince jurors that something more than DNA is needed to convict their client.
Jurors heard testimony from four witnesses as the prosecution attempted to prove that no one in the world, other than Brian Rooney, could have murdered Gardner-Quinn.
Dr. Shapiro took the stand Tuesday to discuss the gruesome details surrounding Gardner-Quinn's death. Her older sister was in the courtroom and she fought back tears as jurors viewed close to two dozen photos of her sister's bruised and beaten body, as it was found near the Huntington Gorge.
DNA was the focus of most of the testimony.
Rooney's DNA matched that found on and near Gardner-Quinn's body. A forensic scientist told jurors there is a one in 240 quadrillion chance that someone else could have the same DNA match.
new
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Resigning Williston planner, D.K. Johnston, is facing stalking charges.
Former Williston Zoning Administrator D.K. Johnston, who resigned last month from most of his official duties, faces a criminal stalking charge.
South Burlington police initiated proceedings against Johnston, 59, on Jan. 11, after a South Burlington real estate agent complained about Johnston's e-mails, faxes and written messages.
A bail order posted Feb. 28 prohibited Johnston, a Burlington resident, from further contact with the alleged victim. A hearing has been scheduled for 1 p.m. May 6 at Vermont District Court in Burlington. Stalking is a misdemeanor in Vermont and carries a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment and a fine of up to ,000.
Johnston, who worked in the town Planning Department for more than three years, signed a resignation agreement in mid-March that requires his employer to provide job references that include only the length of his tenure and the nature of his duties.
His term of office was set to end June 30.
new
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3 Chittenden County massage parlors were close down.
State and federal authorities are still going over the evidence seized last week in the raids on three Asian massage spas. But the Chittenden County prosecutor says there is probably not enough evidence to bring state charges of prostitution or soliciting. It's been a nearly a week since authorities raided and closed three Asian massage spas located in Essex Junction, Williston, and South Burlington. Police say the spas were actually houses of prostitution with sex services provided by Asian women smuggled into the U.S. by organized crime. Police say the women and those who run the spas could face a host of federal charges, immigration smuggling, conspiracy to cross state lines for prostitution, money laundering, and racketeering.
popular
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A 25-year-old Burlington man is facing child pornography
charges after chatting online with an undercover police who he thought was a teenage girl.
Court documents say James Clayton Harris the second admitted possessing child pornography, but assumed many of the images were fake.
He pleaded innocent this week to four felony counts of possessing child pornography and is free on condition that he have no contact with children, other than his own and stay off the Internet.
popular
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A former Burlington police officer was sentenced to serve
at least years in prison for sexually exploiting a retarded teenage girl.
Patrick Voorheis, 50, South Burlington, was sentenced Monday at the Burlington District Court three years after he was arrested for his part in taking nude photos of a retarded 13-year-old Burlington girl. At the time, Voorheis was a Burlington Police Sergeant with 20 years service. The girl's mother is already serving a prison sentence of nine months to seven years for taking the photos.
Voorheis faced a possible 15 year maximum prison sentence. However, in a pre-sentence investigation report, the Vermont Department of Corrections recommended a two-year suspended sentence based on Voorheis' spotless record and low likelihood of reoffense.
Chittenden Deputy Prosecutor Mary Morrissey disagreed. She asked District Court Judge Michael Kupersmith to send Voorheis to prison for at least six years "as punishment and a deterrent."
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A New Hampshire drifter has been charged with sexually assaulting
assaulting two women in Burlington less than eight months after prison release for another rape.
24-year-old David Wambolt is accused of raping two women in Burlington in July. Police say the crimes were not reported immediately because the alleged victims are mentally challenged.
Wambolt was released from a Vermont prison last November after completing a sentence of three and half years for raping a teenage girl in 1997, according to court records.
Wambolt pleaded innocent to the two new sexual assault charges. He was ordered held on 20-thousand dollars bail. -- end --
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Beverly Holland has been convicted for recruiting prostitutes
Beverly Holland was sentenced Friday to nearly 20 years in jail for recruiting Vermont teenagers and young women to work as prostitutes in New York City, a crime she said she committed because she wanted to help the victims.
U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions III had harsh words for Holland before giving her the longest possible sentence under federal guidelines. He told Holland, 40, that her crime not only caused suffering for the victims, but also damaged Vermonters' sense of safety.
"The worst part of urban life is now in Burlington, Vermont, and that's been brought here by you," he said.
Holland was convicted in September of eight counts of transporting and conspiring to transport the girls and young women across state lines to become prostitutes between 2000 and early 2001. Twelve victims were mentioned in the charges. Half of them were younger than 18 at the time of the crime.
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A 20-year-old man pleaded innocent Wednesday to inappropriately
touching two women in Burlington earlier in the week.
Jeffrey North of Shelburne was released on conditions after his arraignment in Vermont District Court in Burlington on two counts of felony lewd and lascivious conduct. The conditions include that North stay out of women's restrooms and keep away from women, except relatives or co-workers, according to court papers.
The two incidents took place Monday, Detective Matthew Hill of the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations said in court papers.
A description of the man led police to North. North denied the accusations when police interviewed him Tuesday.
A big break in the Michelle Gardner-Quinn homicide.
An affidavit filed by prosecutors says blood found on the prime suspect's blue jean matches Gardner-Quinn's.
That was revealed by David Sleigh, a court appointed lawyer for Mr. Rooney in an interview with the Associated Press. He said the DNA evidence was revealed at a hearing, a hearing that Sleigh thought was open, when it was actually closed.
The revelations comes as Brian Rooney faces new charges in court. He was in court Thursday facing charges for a series of sex offenses, and the case is now is front and center with the state's top prosecutor.
... According to court records, Rooney's former girlfriend routinely was sexually assaulted, and last November Rooney allegedly asked an Essex store clerk if she knew anyone that would kill his former girlfriend.
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A Burlington woman has been charged with condoning the all aged
sexual abuse of her two-year-old daughter and threatening to kill the person who called the cops.
35-year-old Mary Martin of Burlington is accused of ignoring warnings that her two-year-old daughter was being molested by an older child. Martin allegedly threatened to kill the little girl's father when he went to the police, according to authorities.
Martin denied the charges. She claims the father made up the story to get back at her for ending their relationship.
Martin pleaded innocent to charges of child cruelty and obstruction of justice. She was ordered held without bail pending a hearing next week. Her five children have been placed in state custody, according to court documents.
-- end --
A Chittenden County judge has denied a media request
to release copies of audio and video recordings of murder suspect Brian Rooney.
Judge Michael Kupersmith cited the need to ensure a fair trial for Rooney, 37, of Richmond, who has pleaded not guilty to abducting, raping and killing University of Vermont senior Michelle Gardner-Quinn, 21, of Arlington, Va., in October 2006.
The Burlington Free Press and WCAX-TV are seeking copies of recorded police interviews with Rooney between the time Gardner-Quinn disappeared from downtown Burlington and when her body was discovered six days later at Richmond's Huntington Gorge. The recordings also show Rooney shortly after his arrest. His comments, including remarks such as "If I did it I deserve to die," are the subject of a pending motion by the defense to prevent prosecutors from using them at trial.
The media "seek to re-publish the very statements that the Defendant is seeking to suppress," Kupersmith wrote in his seven-page ruling....
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A federal judge in Burlington heard arguments Thursday
about whether a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision has rendered the federal death penalty too flawed to proceed with the capital trial of accused killer Donald Fell.
Fell, 22, is facing the death penalty for allegedly kidnapping and killing a North Clarendon woman in November 2000. The hearing was held because Fell's lawyer has filed motions to declare the federal death penalty unconstitutional. ... Thursday's lively courtroom discussion focused on a June decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. That decision stated that juries must make decisions on any information that could increase the severity of a defendant's sentence, including a death sentence.
In federal death penalty cases, prosecutors must pre- sent the defendant and the court with a list of factors that show that the defendant warrants the death penalty for his crime. In Fell's case, these included that he allegedly intentionally killed 53-year-old Teresa King, and that he did so in an especially cruel way.
A homeless man was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for raping
and choking a woman who had taken him in to her Burlington home. Jeffrey Smith, 40, admitted to the charges as part of a plea deal. Smith was convicted of attempted murder and aggravated sexual assault. The judge sentenced him to 30 years to life in prison, the maximum allowable sentence under the plea agreement.
The incidents happened in April 2006. The victim told police Smith was angry and jealous because she had been out alone. Police say the partially clothed victim fled the apartment for help, only to be attacked again by Smith in front of witnesses.
A legal expert says the state's case in the murder of a UVM student is good
, but it is not air-tight.
The legal analysis comes as murder suspect Brian Rooney is preparing to go to trial.
Brian Rooney and his lawyers have until week's end to file challenges to the state's evidence against him.
That evidence includes crime scene DNA that police say proves Rooney raped and murdered Michelle Gardner Quinn.
Even if the DNA stays in, Rooney may still have a defense that may shock some.
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A pretrial hearing continued in Burlington on Thursday
over whether statements to police by a man accused of killing a University of Vermont student can be used in the upcoming trial.
In a videotape of a police interrogation shown in court Wednesday, Brian Rooney, 37, tried to end the interview and told police that his lawyer told him not to give any more statements.
Rooney is charged with killing Michelle Gardner-Quinn, of Arlington, Va., in October 2006. Prosecutors said she was strangled and beaten during a sexual assault, and that DNA evidence taken from her body points to Rooney.
He pleaded not guilty.
Rooney's lawyer said police ignored Rooney's request to talk to his lawyer 37 times during the interrogation, and he said he wants the tape suppressed.
A transplanted New York woman has been found guilty of running a
Bronx prostitution ring stabled with Burlington teenagers.
After two days of trial and eight hours of deliberation, a Burlington federal jury declared 40-year-old Beverly Holland guilty on eight of nine counts. She was accused of running a Bronx prostitution ring using teenage hookers from Burlington.
Thomas Zonay, primary Defense Lawyer told Channel 3 News, "Obviously the jury thought long and hard about this case. Mr. Darrow for the government side presented the facts to the jury. He did a nice job. The government had a long investigation that the jury considered."
Betsy Hibbitts, another Defense Lawyer told us, "Hopefully this will raise the community awareness as to the larger issue of the trouble that we have with our teens on the streets and the need to create resources that can help these kids pull their lives back together."
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A University of Vermont freshman has been suspended
after being accused of hiding a camera in a bathroom on campus.
UVM police officials say 18-year-old Jordan Yarosh allegedly set up a hidden camera in a bathroom in Sichel Hall on the Trinity campus.
They say Yarosh was arrested earlier this week and charged with three counts of voyeurism.
Police say a female student noticed a clock radio device in the bathroom. When she looked it up online, she realized it was a hidden camera.
UVM Police are cooperating with the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations on this case.
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A Vermont couple was in court Friday for a bail hearing,
Accused Rapist, Kenneth Davis, Wants his Statements Thrown Out.
One of two men Burlington charged with raping a teenage girl too drunk to resist wants his statements to police thrown out as evidence.
Kenneth Davis, 24, and George Bradford, 28, are accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting an 18-year-old girl they had never met after they spotted her walking drunk on a Winooski street at 4:30 in the morning on September 9, 2006.
The alleged victim had been a passenger in a car driven by a friend who was pulled over for drunk driving. The Winooski officer who released her to walk home alone was fired.
Friday, Davis's lawyers indicated they want his statements to police dismissed so they cannot be used at trial in March. Davis also faces federal drug dealing charges and his lawyer claims when police questioned Davis about the federal drug case, they indicated he could get leniency if he cooperated in the drug case. After that session with police, he was immediately questioned about the sex case by another police officer.
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An English woman has been charged with aggravated sexual assault on a child
after the discovery that her 7-year-old daughter kept a diary in which she noted when she was forced to have sex with her mother's boyfriend.
The girl, who now lives in California with her father, also told investigators that while she lived in England, her mother allowed men she brought home to have sex with her.
Stacey Parnitzke, 40, and former boyfriend Shane Casey, 38, were arrested Friday in Vermont. They could get life in prison if convicted. Each pleaded not guilty to the same charge.
The assaults allegedly occurred when the girl was between 7 and 9, according to court documents.
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Authorities are looking for your help in a brazen attack
on a busy Burlington street.
Police say the incident happened in this area on Main Street last Monday. A 19 year old woman was walking uphill when she was grabbed and thrown to the ground and sexually assaulted. The attack occurred around 10:30 at night.
Investigators say this type of random attack is very rare especially on busy street.
"This type of assault happens maybe once a year if that, so in the big picture I don't want the community to be alarmed," says Sgt. Jennifer Morrison of the Chittenden Unit Special Investigations. "I don't think at this point we have cause to raise public alarm."
Police made up a composite of the suspect. They are looking for a white man, about 6 to 6'3" weighing over 200 pounds in his late 20's, early 30's. If you have any information about the incident, police ask you to call 652-6800.
Sera Congi - Channel 3 News
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Brian Rooney's Statements Will be Allowed.
The man accused of murdering a University of Vermont student in 2006 says he can't get a fair trial in Chittenden County-- so the trial should be moved.
Police say Brian Rooney raped and murdered Michelle Gardner-Quinn, and then dumped her body in the Huntington Gorge.
Friday, Rooney's lawyer argued that pre-trial publicity would make it impossible to find an impartial jury in Chittenden County. Judge Michael Kupersmith did not immediately decide on the venue change, but said he hoped to within a week. He did however deny most of a request to suppress incriminating statements Rooney made to police. Judge Kupersmith said all of the suspect's statements except one will be heard at trial-- which is tenatively scheduled for May.
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Burlington man under house arrest faces new charges
of attempting to lure a child for sex on the internet.
Michael Fisher, 25, tried to arrange a meeting with a 13-year-old girl he met in an internet chat room last month, according to Burlington police.
However, the alleged 13-year-old was actually a South Bend, Indiana, police officer posing as the teenager as a lure to catch potential internet predators, according to police.
Police say Fisher committed the crime while using a public-access computer at the University of Vermont's Bailey-Howe Library.
Fisher was a low-risk offender completing a sentence for retail theft and probation violations, according to Vermont Corrections officials.
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Child Molester William Blodgett has been sentenced.
A homeless man was sentenced Wednesday for molesting a 4-year-old in Burlington.
Police say William Blodgett, 60, confessed that he molested the little girl at least four times in 2006, when he briefly lived with her mother. He was sentenced to serve 6 to 25 years in prison. He is not eligible for release until he is 65. And that is only if he completes sex offender treatment.
Convicted Rapist Douglas Bryant has been released from jail.
When has a convicted criminal paid his debt to society... and how far should police go to protect the public from potential danger?? Those questions surround a warning issued this week by the Burlington Police about a sex offender who was just released from jail. His name is Douglas Bryant. He recently finished serving a ten year sentence for sexual assault. And now that he's out, Burlington police want the public to know, because they feel he is a predator with a high risk of reoffending. Police say Douglas Bryant is a high risk because the last time he got out of prison in less than two hours he had committed another rape of a woman he'd never met. Sgt. Bruce Bovat, Director of the Chittenden County Sex Crime Investigation Unit, says public protection demanded a public warning about Douglas Bryant. Bryant, 50, has spent most the last 35 years behind bars for raping or attempting to rape and kidnap three women he had never met.
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Douglas Bryant was delivered directly to jail Thursday
after he was arrested in Burlington for allegedly violating Vermont's sex offender registry law.
... Bryant initially spent a few nights in Burlington's homeless shelter but was forced to leave after he made suggestive comments to female staff. Then he spent two nights in a Shelburne Motel, was asked to leave, and has been homeless since.
Authorities acknowledge that on April 5 Bryant did inform clerks at the Burlington District Court that he had become homeless and "could be reached" at South Beach in Burlington. However, authorities claim that did not satisfy the Sex Offender Registry Law and obtained a warrant for his arrest.
... Judge Levitt agreed with the prosecutor. She ordered Bryant held on ,500 bail pending trial on the misdemeanor registry violation charge that could bring up to a year in prison.
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Douglas Bryant, A repeat rapist, faces new charges
less than two weeks after he was released from prison with a public warning from police.
Douglas Bryant, 50, was arrested on Pine Street in Burlington Thursday afternoon for failing to up-date his address with the state sex offender registry in Waterbury. Two weeks ago Bryant was released from prison after completing a ten-year maximum sentence for committing his second rape in twenty years. He broke into a Burlington woman's apartment and raped her in 1994 less than two hours after he was released from prison after completing a maximum sentence for a 1984 rape, according to court documents.
On April 2nd, Burlington police took the unusual step of issuing a public warning about Bryant's prison release and distributed his photo to the media for publication.
Click here to read more.
During 2001 16 rapes were reported in Burlington,
2 rapes were reported in South Burlington and Winooski.
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Former Burlington School Board member was sentenced Monday
to one to two years probation and possible sex offender counseling for inappropriately touching two young women while giving them massages last year.
Elwood "Ike" Isley, 59, pleaded guilty in May to two misdemeanor counts of prohibited acts. He received a six- to 12-month suspended sentence for each count during a hearing in Vermont District Court in Burlington.
Isley was ordered to undergo screening to determine whether he needs the sex offender counseling. Isley asked the judge to allow him to continue treatment with his current therapist instead of going through a state program.
... He worked at the University of Vermont as an athletic trainer at the time of the crimes. Isley is no longer employed by the school, which has declined to say whether he resigned or was fired.
A female UVM student who spoke at the sentencing hearing said Isley touched her inappropriately during massages to heal a back injury three years ago.
Hearing has been Postponed in Gardner-Quinn Case
A hearing on a request by the man charged with killing a University of Vermont student last year will be postponed until January.
Attorneys for Brian Rooney have asked a judge to suppress more than 20 statements Rooney made to police.
Rooney is accused of killing 21-year-old Michelle Gardner-Quinn who disappeared while walking from downtown Burlington to campus Oct. 7, 2006.
Rooney's lawyer David Sleigh argues that police violated Rooney's rights when speaking with him before Gardner-Quinn's body was found several days after she disappeared.
Prosecutors said Rooney talked to police voluntarily. Next month's court hearing is expected to be the last before Rooney goes on trial.
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Inmate at C.C.C.C. charged with sexual assault
An inmate at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility has been charged with sexual assault on another inmate, the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations said Friday.
Police said the victim told staff members March 19 that he had been sexually assaulted by Donald Morrill, 25, at the jail two days earlier.
The victim, 18, was taken to Fletcher Allen Health Care. Hospital officials notified the Chittenden Unit, which investigates sex crimes.
Court records show Morrill's criminal record included aggravated domestic assault, resisting arrest and violations of conditions of release.
Morrill remains jailed, and is scheduled for arraignment Monday on the sexual assault charge, police said.
Internet Sex Case is Raising Constitutional Questions.
Judge rules police can search defendant's house at random to make sure he's not on the 'net'. An Essex man pled not guilty to charges that he used the internet to try to lure an underage boy to have sex with him.
Police raided John Thompson's home in July. It was the culmination of months of investigation into internet porn. Police seized the 55-year-old's computer, and a bag of sex toys.
Investigators say Thompson sent graphic photos of himself, and exchanged emails with an undercover detective pretending to be a 14 year old boy. They say Thompson wanted to meet the "boy" for sex.
Thompson denies the charges. He's free pending trial.
Prosecutor Rose Kennedy asked the judge to order police search Thompson's house at random, to ensure he does not get back online. "We're talking about someone who's actively searching the internet, looking in sites called, something along the lines of 'Boys For Play' to meet with him and have sex.
It's unlikely Vermont will file prostitution charges
stemming from the shutdown of three Chittenden County massage parlors, according to the county prosecutor.
State and federal authorities are still going over the evidence seized last week in the raids on three Asian massage spas.
But the Chittenden County prosecutor says there is probably not enough evidence to bring state charges of prostitution or soliciting.
It's been a nearly a week since authorities raided and closed three Asian massage spas located in Essex Junction, Williston, and South Burlington.
Police say the spas were actually houses of prostitution with sex services provided by Asian women smuggled into the U.S. by organized crime.
Police say the women and those who run the spas could face a host of federal charges, immigration smuggling, conspiracy to cross state lines for prostitution, money laundering, and racketeering.
Click here to read more.
James Hines has been Charged With Sexual Assault.
A Burlington man faces sex assault charges.
Police say James Hines, 43, molested his girlfriend's 14-year-old daughter. They say the cab driver met the woman and her daughter because he would drive them to appointments. Hines denied the charges in court, but in court documents he told police he did engage in sex acts with the girl.
Brian Joyce - WCAX News
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James Hines pleaded not guilty of repeated sexual assaults.
A Burlington cab driver is accused of repeated sexual assaults on a 13-year-old girl, allegedly as he was having an affair with the child's mother, according to charges outlined Friday in Vermont District Court in Burlington.
James Hines, 43, of Burlington pleaded not guilty to four counts of sexual assault on a minor and one count of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child. He was jailed lacking ,000 bail.
In court papers, Detective John Dunn of the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations said he was made aware of the case in August and interviewed the girl, who now is 14.
Hines was a Benway's Taxi driver who often drove the girl to appointments, Dunn wrote. The girl said she believed an affair developed between Hines and her mother, and she frequently saw Hines, Dunn wrote.
Click here to read more.
James Stephens,
A homeless man, will spend at least ten years behind bars for attempting to kidnap and sexually assault a young girl he'd never met.
James Stephens sentencing comes nearly a year and half after he dragged a 9-year-old girl in broad daylight from her backyard in Burlington. Her friends fetched her mom's boyfriend who gave chase -- rescued the girl -- and gave Stephens a pounding in the process.
Thursday, Stephens pled no contest to attempted kidnapping as a part of a plea agreement that sends him to prison for 10 to 15 years.
Stephens reportedly told police he planned to rape the girl. If convicted of the original charges he could have gotten up to life in prison. Now though-- with credit for time served-- he will be eligible for prison release in eight years.
Click here to read more.
Jason Blow has been accused of targeting children.
Police say a man arrested in Burlington for allegedly trying to lure little girls-- targeted other children, too.
Jason Blow, 24, of Colchester, denied trying to get two girls into his car on North Avenue in November.
Since then, police say an investigation found Blow tried to lure other children in Chittenden and Franklin Counties. He was arraigned this week in Frankin County for lewd and lascivious conduct.
Jeffrey Renaud is facing rape charges.
`A South Burlington business owner has denied criminal charges accusing him of forcibly raping a teenage boy.
Jeffrey Renaud has a history of sex crimes with juveniles, and recently started luring them with drugs and alcohol, according to police documents filed at the Burlington District Court.
Renaud, 36, owns a sandwich shop and the Burlington Comedy Club, but he wasn't laughing when he was brought into the courtroom in chains.
Police claim Renaud is a drug dealer who sometimes provides free booze and drugs to teenage boys at his South Burlington apartment in exchange for sex.
Apparently none of the boys complained until this past weekend when one 16-year-old told police that two months ago Renaud gave him cocaine and booze -- and raped him when he was nearly unconscious.
Renaud pled innocent to the rape and kidnapping charges that could bring life behind bars.
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John Perrotte is suing Vermont's Roman Catholic Diocese.
Jury selection is underway in another civil suit filed by a former altar boy who claims Vermont's Roman Catholic Diocese failed to protect him from a pedophile priest. ... John Perrotte, 41, and his lawyers declined comment as they entered the courthouse. They were there to select a jury for Perrotte's lawsuit seeking financial damages from Vermont's Roman Catholic Diocese.
Perrotte claims the sexual predator was former Vermont priest Alfred Willis. Last month, a civil trial jury determined that the Diocese did not protect another former teen parishioner from Father Willis three decades ago. The award in that case was ,000.
Perrotte will be seeking much higher damages. He claims confidential Diocesan documents prove that former Bishop John Marshall-- who died 15 years ago-- knew Willis was a pedophile, but moved him from church to church without warning parishioners or parish priests.
Click here to read more.
Judd Walbridge, 35, has been charged with sexual assault.
Police say a Burlington man charged with sexual assault has reportedly blamed his sex drive on his sister's murder 26 years ago. Judd Walbridge, 35, has denied charges that he sexually assaulted a woman he knew. Police say the victim told them that Walbridge used his sister's rape and murder in 1981 in Essex as an excuse for his actions. Police say Walbridge denied any wrongdoing and claimed he was only acting out a fantasy.
Walbridge pled not guilty to sexual assault. He was released on conditions. Police say Walbridge is a school counselor in Colchester and Milton.
Brian Joyce - WCAX News
Judge Geoffrey Crawford seals recordings in the Rooney case.
Audio and video recordings of murder suspect Brian Rooney will remain sealed for at least a week, and possibly longer, a Chittenden County judge ruled Friday, citing the defendant's right to a fair trial and denying a public-records request.
The Burlington Free Press and WCAX-TV are seeking copies of recorded police interviews with Rooney, the man accused of abducting, raping and killing University of Vermont senior Michelle Gardner-Quinn in October 2006.
The material covers interactions between Rooney, 37, of Richmond, and law enforcement between the time Gardner-Quinn, 21, of Arlington, Va., disappeared early Oct. 7, 2006, from downtown Burlington and when her body was discovered six days later at the Huntington Gorge in Richmond. The recordings also show Rooney shortly after his arrest.
Click here to read more.
Murder suspect Brian Rooney was formally charged Thursday.
Police say they have powerful evidence linking Rooney to the murder of Michelle Gardner Quinn.
More details about the investigation were revealed today.
The arraignment lasted a mere one minute and 47 seconds. Brian Rooney denied the aggravated murder charge. But police feel they have a rock-solid case against him.
Police who worked on Brian Rooney's case packed the courtroom as he was brought in to be charged with the murder of Michelle Gardner Quinn.
Heis lawyer entered a plea of not guilty on Roney's behalf.
The arraignment came less than 24 hours after police received DNA evidence they say conclusively proves it was Rooney -- and Rooney alone -- who strangled and sexually assaulted the UVM student.
Click here to read more.
One year ago, UVM student Michelle Gardner Quinn vanished
as she walked back to campus from downtown Burlington. Six days later, her body was found hidden near the Huntington Gorge. She had been kidnapped, raped and murdered, investigators say by Brian Rooney of Richmond.
The University of Vermont has a handful of events planned this week to honor Gardner-Quinn, including a candlelight vigil, memorial hike, and scholarship fundraiser. The murder victim is being remembered both on and off-campus.
On a bright and clear Sunday morning, members of Burlington's Unitarian Universalist Society remember a dark day one year ago.
Rather than focus just on the crimes against Michelle Gardner-Quinn, the Unitarian Universalist community discussed a culture of violence, calling for men to take a stand. Speakers said they should not commit or condone violence against a girl or woman.
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One year has passed since the UVM community mourned the loss
of one of its own. Senior Michelle Gardner Quinn was kidnapped as she walked back to campus from a downtown bar, raped and murdered. The campus was stunned; its sense of security, shattered.
One year later, has anything changed?
Late last Friday night, several women could be seen walking toward campus alone.
The sense among students who spoke to WCAX News is that the crimes against Michelle Gardner Quinn were an aberration. And the statistics show they're right. The Women's Rape Crisis Center estimates only 1% of all sexual assaults in Vermont are by strangers. Advice such as walk in groups and stay in well-lit areas fails to keep women safe when the attacker is someone she knows.
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Photographer sentenced to probation for nude pictures of youths.
Burlington photographer Irwin Abrams was sentenced Friday to nine years' probation, sex-offender counseling and a large fine for taking pictures of nude and partially nude underage girls.
Abrams, 68, pleaded no contest in Vermont District Court in Burlington to one count of lewd and lascivious conduct and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The delinquency charges were for giving money to teen-age models Abrams knew were addicted to drugs. As part of his sentence, Abrams must donate ,000 to a local drug treatment facility.
Kennedy said the case would have been tough to present at trial because many of the victims were difficult to locate. Abrams' attorney, Nancy Waples, said some of the victims had recanted their earlier statements.
Police are searching for a man who allegedly tried to kidnap a 21
year-old St. Michael's College student on Friday.
The student, who is from Japan, was approached by a man in a large white sport-utility vehicle three times as she walked along Vermont 15 at about 4 p.m. Friday, according to a news release from the Colchester Police Department.
The woman reported the incident to police Tuesday. Her name was not released.
The woman ignored the man each time he drove past her and tried to get her attention, according to the release. The third time, the man got out of his SUV and approached the woman, police said. When she kept walking, the man grabbed her arm and tried to force her into his SUV, the release said. The woman broke free and ran toward campus, and the man left the area, police said.
Police describe the man as white, in his early 30s, between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet tall with a medium build and blond hair. He was wearing a white polo shirt and dress slacks, police said.
Police in Burlington are looking for a man accused
of molesting two women. Police say he groped a woman on upper Pine Street this morning and minutes later grabbed a woman in the lady's room of a downtown business.
Police are looking for a white man in his twenties, 5'5" to 5'7", 130-160 lbs. Anyone with information should contact the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations at 652-6802.
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Police in Burlington are looking for a man accused of molesting
two women. Police say he groped a woman on upper Pine Street this morning and minutes later grabbed a woman in the lady's room of a downtown business.
Police are looking for a white man in his twenties, 5'5" to 5'7", 130-160 lbs. Anyone with information should contact the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations at 652-6802.
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Police Issued a Warning About a Released Rapist.
When has a convicted criminal paid his debt to society... and how far should police go to protect the public from potential danger??
Those questions surround a warning issued this week by the Burlington Police about a sex offender who was just released from jail.
His name is Douglas Bryant. He recently finished serving a ten year sentence for sexual assault.
And now that he's out, Burlington police want the public to know, because they feel he is a predator with a high risk of reoffending.
Police say Douglas Bryant is a high risk because the last time he got out of prison in less than two hours he had committed another rape of a woman he'd never met.
Sgt. Bruce Bovat, Director of the Chittenden County Sex Crime Investigation Unit, says public protection demanded a public warning about Douglas Bryant.
Bryant, 50, has spent most the last 35 years behind bars for raping or attempting to rape and kidnap three women he had never met.
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Richard Bugbee was sentenced for sexually abusing a girl.
Richard Bugbee arrived in court Thursday clearly nervous and hoping for leniency. But prosecutors, family members and Vt. District Court Judge Ben Joseph had something else in mind: A message to those who sexually abuse children.
... Bugbee denied it even after the victim reported the crime. The former Essex High School math teacher and basketball coach finally pleaded no contest last month to charges he sexually abused the victim.
Dozens of people packed the court and heard how the sexual relationship developed. The girl, now 16, spoke of her anguish, and the harassment from Bugbee, fellow students, even parents.
... But Judge Ben Joseph rejected the plea for leniency, telling Bugbee he had hurt many people, including his wife, posing as a loyal husband and all the while sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl.
Judge Joseph sent Richard Bugbee to jail for four to seven years. Bugbee was led away crying to begin serving his sentence immediately.
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Rooney Interrogation Tapes were Played in Court.
The lights dimmed inside the courtroom as prosecutors played a long-awaited video. On it-- an accused killer-- secretly taped during an attempted lie detector test at the Vt. State Police Barracks in Williston.
Brian Rooney, the man accused of raping and murdering UVM student Michelle Gardner Quinn, takes a seat as Sergeant Ed Twohig, an interrogation expert, prepped him for the polygraph.
... The interrogation took place two days before Gardner-Quinn's body was discovered near the Huntington Gorge. Investigators seemed desperate for answers, likely because a criminal profiler had warned them time was running out. Gardner-Quinn had been missing four days and if she were still alive, she wouldn't be for long.
Sgt. Twohig tried to get Rooney to confess to her abduction. But Rooney's lawyer was not present and the accused asked for him 37 times.
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Sex offender James Bushway is frightening Whitcomb tenants.
Children once ran through the halls of Whitcomb Terrace.
... Then James Bushway moved in upstairs.
Bushway, 62, raped a pregnant University of Vermont employee at knifepoint in 1982, his second rape conviction in 16 years. When he completed his prison sentence in 1998, police obtained special permission from the state Corrections Department to alert the public. Bushway returned to society untreated, and is under no further legal obligation other than to report to the sex offender registry.
Bushway's arrival at Whitcomb Terrace more than a year ago prompted his neighbors to begin locking their doors. Children rarely visit. Thibault decided to move out by the end of November after a run-in with Bushway more than a month ago.
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Sex Offender, David Barnes, Drove to State Police Barracks drunk.
Vermont State Police said they arrested a man who showed up at the Williston police barracks drunk.
Police said 65-year-old David Barnes drove to the barracks to update his sex offender registry photo on Thursday. When he arrived, police said they suspected he had been drinking and administered a Breathalyzer test. Police said Barnes blood-alcohol level was almost twice the legal limit.
He was arrested on charges of driving under the influence.
Sexual assaults are on the rise in Vermont.
In Chittenden County Wednesday, police said the number of reported sexual assaults is up 19%. And the Women's Rape Crisis Center in Burlington is hoping its annual phone-a-thon fundraiser will help curb those numbers. About a dozen volunteers are dialing for donations this week. The phone-a-thon is one of the center's largest fundraisers, but in recent years donations have dropped, while demand for services has risen.
"Over the last two years we've noticed a downward trend and we think large in part to the hard economic times we've had since September 11th - the subsequent economic downward trend. So within those two years we've seen a 15-percent decrease in community donation. At the same time that we're seeing this decrease in community funding we're also seeing an increasing need for our services," says Cathleen Wilson, of the Women's Rape Crisis Center.
The Center hopes to raise ,000 during its three night phone-a-thon. The effort wraps up Thursday night.
Shock and disbelief rippled through the Trinity Campus
at the University of Vermont this week, with the news that a university freshman was caught video taping other students in residence hall bathrooms.
University Police say Jordan Yarosh allegedly placed hidden cameras, disguised as clock radios, in various bathrooms. A female student apparently noticed the clock radio in two separate bathrooms and became suspicious. She contacted police who say they were able to trace the cameras back to Yarosh.
UVM Police Chief, Gary Margolis, says he has no idea how long the cameras had been used.
Yarosh was arrested on Monday and charged with prohibited acts. That is the state charge for what is commonly known as voyeurism.
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Spencer Richland, 41, was convicted of fondling three boys,
ages 9 to 11, and sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
At a Burlington sentencing hearing Friday afternoon, Richland apologized to the victims' families who were in the courtroom. He also apologized to his ex-wife and their six children whom he left when he discovered he was gay three years ago.
"Please understand that I'm not ashamed that I'm a gay man, and have finally found happiness in that," said Richland, reading from a prepared statement,"it is every person's right to live freely as the person that they are."
... Under the terms of a plea agreement, Spencer was sentenced to serve five years in prison and could remain behind bars for up to 13 years if he fails to fully cooperate in sex offender treatment.
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State social worker has been arrested in a law enforcement
sting using police officers who pose as children in computer chat rooms to snare on-line sexual predators.
Ralph Culver, 52, Burlington, was arrested Wednesday afternoon after police say he attempted to meet what he believed was a 14-year-old girl, according to court records.
But the "girl" never existed, say police. "She" was actually a specially trained male detective posing as a child on the internet to lure sexual predators.
Culver fell for the bait, according to authorities.
Culver used his home computer and the state-owned computer in his Burlington office to send explicit sexual descriptions and requests about what he hoped the "girl" would do with him, according to police.
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The judge in the upcoming second trial involving claims of
long-ago child sexual molestation by a Roman Catholic priest has ruled that church lawyers cannot shift blame for the alleged abuse to a relative of the alleged victim.
... Turner, who grew up in Derby, has claimed he was molested by the former Rev. Alfred Willis in a Latham, N.Y. motel room in 1977 and that the diocese was to blame because it failed to supervise Willis properly. Willis settled separately with Turner last year.
Willis has been accused of molesting altar boys in Burlington, Milton and Montpelier, where he was a diocesan parish priest. Willis was suspended from priestly duties in 1980 by then Bishop John Marshall and was later defrocked.
During the first trial in June on Turner's claims, church lawyers asked Turner several times about what they characterized as a special relationship between Willis and Turner's brother, who is also a priest.
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The judge presiding over Brian Rooney's murder trial has refused
the suspect's demand to step down.
In a two-sentence order released Wednesday by the state judiciary, Judge Michael Kupersmith said he "declines" to recuse himself from the matter and has referred Rooney's request to Administrative Judge Amy Davenport for further proceedings.
Davenport will rule on whether to remove Kupersmith from the case, which arose from the October 2006 rape and killing of a University of Vermont student. A clerk in Davenport's office said no hearings are scheduled and the next step likely will be a written opinion. There is no deadline for Davenport to rule, according to her office.
Rooney, 37, of Richmond sent a letter Friday to Kupersmith, received Tuesday at Vermont District Court in Burlington, that accuses the judge of being prejudiced against him and of crafting poor legal rulings. The letter arrived less than a month before Rooney's trial is scheduled to begin May 13 in Rutland.
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The man suspected of killing a U.V.M College student will be arraigned
on Monday. He faces unrelated charges at this point - sexual assault and lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor - that police say came to light from their current investigation.
Burlington Police continue to build a case against Brian Rooney in the homicide investigation of 21-year old Michelle Gardner Quinn. A call that the victim made on Rooney's cell phone led police to the 36-year old construction worker. Rooney was the last person seen with Gardner-Quinn before she disappeared early Saturday morning a week ago. When hikers discovered her body at Huntington Gorge yesterday, police made the arrest, and as Burlington police chief Tom Tremblay phrased it, now it's as if a whole new investigation has started. Police on Saturday said they are in no position to release any information of significance. They still need the public's help.
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The mystery of a missing UVM student has been solved.
Twenty-one year-old Michelle Gardner Quinn was found dead near the Huntington Gorge in Richmond -- an apparent murder victim. Police also arrested 36 year-old Brian Rooney. He has not been charged with killing Michelle Quinn, but he is the prime suspect.
While Chief Tom Tremblay was announcing the tragic news in Burlington, investigators were still at the Huntington Gorge, where Michelle Gardner-Quinn's body was discovered four hours earlier. Police say hikers spotted the body near the edge of the gorge. The grim discovery ended the search that started seven days ago when storefront security cameras photographed her walking up Main Street with a man whose cell phone she had borrowed to call friends. From the beginning he was the focus of the investigation. It included intensive searches in and around his mother's home in Richmond. Police said they knew his name, but they were unwilling to identify him or call him a suspect -- until today.
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The state's Roman Catholic diocese is fresh from a jury verdict
in a priest molestation case that one of its lawyers called gratifying, but the church continues to face a litany of lawsuits.
A review of the docket at Chittenden County Superior Court shows that 17 of the 24 pending priest sex abuse cases filed against the diocese involve molestation claims against the former Rev. Edward Paquette, including 11 of the next 13 cases on the docket.
Paquette's conduct and the diocese's knowledge of it -- he allegedly molested boys in two other states prior to incidents in Rutland, Montpelier and Burlington in the 1970s -- led the church in 2006 to settle the first Paquette case on the docket for ,000, by far the diocese's largest settlement.
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The trial of Burlington woman accused of drugging a teenage girl
with jimson weed ended abruptly Thursday when the defendant agreed to admit her guilt to avoid prison.
Samantha Abad and her husband, Michael, were charged with felony assault and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in October 2001 after police accused the couple of drugging a teenage girl in their Elmwood Street apartment.
The 14-year-old girl passed out and became numb after the couple served her glasses of a potentially deadly tea made from jimson weed, according to police.
Trial for Mrs. Abad started Thursday morning, but ended abruptly after three hours of testimony from six state witnesses when Mrs. Abad agreed to admit her guilt as part of an agreement with prosecutors.
Mrs. Abad plead no contest to contributing to the delinquency of a minor and guilty to a reduced charge of simple assault. In return, prosecutors agreed to request no more than two years of probation when Mrs. Abad is sentenced next month.
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Their is a New Efforts to Keep Burlington Bar-Goers Safe.
There are some dangerous drugs making the rounds in Vermont's bar scene. ... State Liquor Control officials who are teaming up with the Women's Rape Crisis Center to crack down on club drugs and date-rape drugs. Wednesday night they held a training session in Burlington to teach bar staff about what the substances are and how they can be identified.
About 75 people - bar staff and law enforcement alike - turned out for this training session. It's an effort to make the public aware that drugs are being used for both predatory and recreational reasons. ... But the problem isn't only recreational drug use. The other goal of this informational session is to educate bar staff about date rape drugs. Often odorless, colorless and tasteless, date-rape drugs can cause a person to lose consciousness and forget what's happened to them.
This afternoon, Burlington Police investigators have brought charges
against Brian Rooney, 36, of Richmond, Vermont for aggravated homicide in the death of Michelle Gardner Quinn," says Chief Tom Tremblay of Burlington Police.
Police say Brian Rooney has been their only suspect since Michelle Gardner Quinn disappeared 18 days ago and was found dead at the Huntington Gorge six days later.
Police say the autopsy revealed that Gardner Quinn died of strangulation and blunt trauma injuries during a sexual assault. They say she was killed within two hours after she was last seen walking with Rooney on October 7th. Police say they did not have enough evidence to charge Rooney with the murder until Wednesday.
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Trial began today for a Burlington woman accused of running
a prostitution ring with a stable of Burlington teenage girls.
This was day one of the trial of 40-year-old Beverly Holland. She is accused of running a Bronx prostitution ring with a stable of Burlington teenage girls. Federal authorities learned about Holland's alleged hooker business while investigating the death of 16-year-old Chrystal Jones -- a Burlington teenager who was working as a hooker when she was murdered two years ago in the Bronx.
No one has been charged in connection with Jones death, but prosecutors say all of the Burlington girls in the Holland ring were Jones' friends. During testimony today at the federal court in Burlington, six of the alleged former teen hookers detailed how Holland recruited and transported them to the Bronx to work as prostitutes.
The government is expected to call at least six more girls and a convicted pimp to testify tomorrow. Holland faces up to twenty years in federal prison if convicted. -- end --
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Two women were attacked in separate, probably unrelated incidents
in Burlington early Sunday morning, the city's police department said. Both women fought off their attackers, and neither woman was seriously injured.
Residents of Henry Street were awakened at about 1:10 a.m. Sunday to the sounds of a woman screaming for help, police said. Police arrived to find a woman who said she had been attacked from behind by a large, muscular man. The man fled before police arrived.
In the second incident, a woman was walking on lower Church Street at about 1:40 a.m. Sunday when a man wearing boxer shorts and a dark sweater leaped from bushes onto her. Police described the man as white, about 5 feet, 8 inches tall, with blond, curly and scraggly hair.
Police have made no arrests.
Police used the incidents to caution people to exercise common sense and be mindful of their safety as they walk the streets, especially at night. Women are discouraged from walking alone late at night, Burlington police said.
Vermont authorities are stepping up participation
in a nation-wide kiddie porn sting.
"We made approximately 30 contacts with suspects, seven arrests," Lt. Mike Schirling of the Burlington police told reporters at a late afternoon press conference.
That's just the Vermont total after a two year nationwide investigation.
It doesn't include the hundreds of online predators who try to contact kids for sex.
"The types of people engaging in child exploitation are not easily deterred by law enforcement initiatives."
To help deter those people, police have set up a new information web site to help parents and caregivers help kids use the net safely.
"It gives you an indication of what our task force is about, who the partners are, how to contact task force affiliates statewide, and gives you links to resources, not only in Vermont, but nationwide. Internet safety and education resources."
Police also announced the creation of a new website put up by the
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Vermont authorities have confirmed the state's first
first medically-documented case of a date-rape drug being slipped into the drink of a bar customer.
Medical tests have confirmed that a young woman tested positive for the presence of the date-rape drug GHB after she became dizzy and experienced black-outs after just one drink at a Chittenden County bar three weeks ago, according to police investigators. Police say the unidentified woman realized something was wrong and was driven to the Fletcher Allen Health Care by friends for emergency treatment.
The woman chose not to pursue criminal charges so whoever drugged her got away with it and is could do it again, according to police.
The Women's Rape Crisis Center in Burlington says scores of women have claimed over the last eight years that they suspect they were the victims of date rape drugs, but the reports have come too late for medical tests for scientific confirmation.
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Vermont's attorney general characterizes the investigation
of the church sex abuse scandal his office is conducting as difficult. "We have heard some terrible stories," Bill Sorrell told reporters Monday.
Sorrell announced two of the roughly 40 investigations are complete, and no criminal charges will be filed. Both were on a list of six active priests who were referred to the attorney general by the diocese. The allegations against them date back to the late 1980's.
"One of the priests who we completed the investigation on declined to talk to us," Sorrell said.
Citing difficulties like victims who refused to be interviewed, the burden of proof, and the statute of limitations, Sorrell said these are unique situations. The Catholic Diocese placed the six active priests on administrative leave back in May. The Attorney General's office has since received complaints about four more active priests.
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Warrants Reveal New Information About Murder Suspect Brian Rooney.
Authorities have unsealed court documents that contain disturbing new information about accused killer Brian Rooney. The documents detail some of what police found when they seized Rooney's property in conjunction with the Michelle Gardner Quinn homicide investigation. While police were looking for evidence in the murder case they also found evidence to charge him with three unrelated sex crimes. But the newly released court documents detail why police are looking at the possibility that there may be many more victims.
Police executed more than a dozen search warrants when they went looking for evidence connecting Brian Rooney to the murder and rape of Michelle Gardner-Quinn. The unsealed warrants totaling 218 pages reveal some of what police found when they searched Rooney's mother's property in Richmond. The documents say police seized cameras, computers and photos that indicate Rooney may have been sexually victimizing women for some time.
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What is fair housing?
That question is at the center of a controversy in Essex Junction. Some residents of an independent living facility say they feel they've been pushed into an unfair situation - living in the same building as a convicted sex offender.
The problem started more than a year ago when 62-year-old James Bushway moved into Whitcomb Terrace, a secured building designed for disabled residents. Bushway was convicted of rape in 1974 and plead guilty to sexual assault in 1983.
... The apartment complex is run by Cathedral Square Corporation, a non-profit with properties for seniors and people with special needs. The executive director of the company, Nancy Eldridge, says Bushway's application to live in Whitcomb Terrace was evaluated on the same criteria as every other resident. He has a disability that requires use of a motorized scooter, and a live-in caregiver. He qualifies for Section 8 housing, and he is of the right age to live in the building.
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Women working...at 3...massage parlors...were sex slaves
forced to work in the spas to repay the crime syndicate that smuggled them into the United States.
Police raided the three massage parlors last week, taking several employees into custody.
According to police affidavits released today, the Asian women working in the spas were all illegal aliens. A search of the buildings turned up evidence that the women were wiring about ,000 a week to an Asian Bank.
Some of the women had prior arrests in New Jersey and Maine at similar operations believed to be run by the same syndicate.
Federal authorities are looking for the syndicate operators who could face a host of federal charges.
The documents identify a man named Rex White as the local manager. Police reportedly are still looking for him as well.
Brian Joyce - Channel 3 News
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WRCC is Warning woman About Date Rape Drugs.
The Women's Rape Crisis Center is teaming up with the Vermont Department of Liquor Control to fight date rape.
The center says its seen a rise in the number of women who say someone's slipped drugs into their drinks at bars and parties in the Burlington area. Next month the women's advocates will join the Liquor Control department to train bartenders to be on the lookout for date rape drugs.
"Part of what makes date rape drugs so scary is that they're usually colorless and odorless and tasteless when they're put into a drink," says Sarah Kenney of the Women's Rape Crisis Center. "So, its pretty hard to determine if there is one in your drink. but there are ways we can prevent it from happening."
Kenney says women should only accept drinks from the bartender or close friends. They should never leave a drink unattended. If you're at a party, do not drink from open containers - try to bring your own. And, you don't have to be drinking alcohol for your drink to be doctored.
WRCC sponsors "Take Back The Night
Police in Burlington are on the lookout for a man who tried to assault an 18-year-old woman on the night of Friday, April 7th. Police say the woman was grabbed from behind and pulled into an alley near King and Saint Paul Street. Authorities say she was able to fight off her attacker and run away. Police are asking for the public's help in finding the man. The attacker is described as a middle aged white man with dark hair around his chin. Anyone with information is asked to call Burlington Police.
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accused of sexually assaulting the woman's young daughter repeatedly.
Stacey Parnitzke, 40, allegedly abused her own daughter and forced her to have sex with men she brought home from Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Court papers said the allegations happened both in Vermont and in England.
"It is very egregious and having said that we investigate like we investigate every other sexual assault case," said Detective Lance Burnham of the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations.
The victim told police Shane Casey, Parnitzke's current husband, raped her several times while she lived in Vermont. Casey's attorney said there has been no forensic exam, and there is no evidence she was sexually abused by her mother or Casey.