Vermont State Senator Accused of Sexual Assault Kicked Out of Committees

Residents of perpetually scandal-plagued states like New York and New Jersey might be accustomed to the sight of local legislators being hauled away in handcuffs, but in Vermont, such spectacles are considerably rarer. So it came as something of a shock last week when detectives showed up at the Capitol building in Montpelier during work hours and apprehended State Senator Norman McAllister.

The shock compounded as the charges against him became known: the longtime lawmaker was allegedly running a grisly sexual extortion racket from his dairy farm in Franklin County, in the far northwestern corner of the state. So far, he's been accused of sexually assaulting two women who were previously employees. Police were tipped off when a third woman, the first victim's former mother-in-law, was allegedly propositioned by McAllister to have sex in exchange for a reduction in her son's rent.

McAllister didn't respond to phone messages from VICE seeking comment, but pleaded not guilty last Friday to three felony charges of sexual assault and three misdemeanors of prohibited acts after posting $20,000 bail a day earlier. The maximum penalty is life in prison.

According to the police affidavit, the first woman says McAllister began groping and kissing her when she arrived to interview for a position on his farm in October 2012. McAllister, a 63-year-old Republican widower, was apparently pleased that she expressed willingness to accommodate his workplace preferences. "As a man, that's what I like to hear," he allegedly purred at the time.

The woman claims the relationship progressed to include regular, coerced sex acts. The first time they had sex, McAllister allegedly bent her over a bale of hay. "I knew I was forcing you to do something you didn't want to do," the senator later acknowledged in a phone conversation recorded by police. "Even with just giving me a blow job. I knew that you didn't really want to do that."

McAllister hasn't said much to the media since the arrest, aside from a terse remark via his lawyer that he has "a much different version of events."

Some of the events in question, according to the affidavit, include the time he allegedly showed up unannounced to the same victim's residence and decided he wanted to stick his fist into her vagina, despite being told "no" and "stop." His response to these rebuffs, according to the victim's recollection, was to utter something along the lines of, "Be quiet and be a good girl."

In another incident, McAllister allegedly initiated anal sex with that victim as punishment for her causing an accident on the farm involving a skid steer. To justify this course of action, McAllister is quoted on a police-recorded call saying, "Here's the deal, you're like many women who have had children. You're not tight at all, and anal [sic] you are tight, and some women like it more than others."

By the terms of this sordid alleged arrangement, the victim was permitted to live in a trailer on McAllister's property. He also reportedly connected her with legal counsel so she could attempt to regain custody of a child who had been seized by the state. (The counsel apparently bailed when she stopped having sex with McAllister.)

If true, these allegations are the stuff of an actual horror show. Imagine the government taking your offspring away, with the only course of action seemingly available to become the sexual possession of a government representative.

As another strategy for ameliorating the first victim's economic deprivation, McAllister at one point allegedly recommended "using your pussy for something other than producing babies." He is said to have proposed that a "viable option" could be to traffic her to other farms in the area, where unspecified "Mexicans" might pay for sex. But the plan was thwarted when the victim became pregnant. "That kind of fucked things up a little bit," McAllister complained in a conversation recorded by police. "Although some guys, like me, like fucking pregnant women."

As the Vermont Digger reported, the second alleged victim became McAllister's "intern" after previously serving as a "cleaner," traveling with him to the state capitol in Montpelier. This victim alleges outright, unambiguous rape—as opposed to anything even remotely resembling a transaction. McAllister allegedly overpowered the 99-pound woman and forced her to have intercourse in the apartment he shared with two other legislators, Sen. Kevin Mullin, a Republican of Rutland, and Rep. Tim Corcoran, a Democrat of Bennington. Neither apparently noticed anything amiss or thought to question why McAllister was sharing a bedroom with a person who, according to another state senator who observed their relationship, "looked like she was 12." (The two legislators might be in hot water as well. Federal investigators reportedly interviewed them Monday.)

All of which raises the question: Why the hell is this guy still holding elective office? According to the Burlington Free Press, McAllister has been kicked out of his committees, but he left a phone message with Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott indicating he has no plans to resign. "He doesn't feel he is guilty," Scott told the paper.

Meanwhile, there's concern over how the victims will fare in light of the revelations. For some reason the prosecutor's office ended up naming the victims in paperwork filed at court, compromising their anonymity. Gaye Paquette, the Franklin County Superior Court clerk, told me this is not standard practice and that sexual assault victims are usually identified by initials or date of birth.

"It's a small area, so people know a lot of things," Kris Lukens, director of the advocacy group Voices Against Violence, which serves Franklin County, told me. "Your anonymity might be destroyed. Everybody knows everybody. So that's a difficult hurdle for victims coming forward. They have a lot to lose." She's already been hearing stray comments "out on the street" assigning blame to the victims.

Until these explosive allegations are resolved in some fashion, it's safe to say there's a dark cloud hanging over the Vermont legislature. Lieutenant Governor Scott told the Burlington Free Press that the Senate could move to expel McAllister when it reconvenes in January if the charges haven't been settled. Scott went on to say that it's still "premature to take that route."

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