Chester teen charged with two counts of sexual assault

By Cynthia Prairie and Shawn Cunningham
©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION

Following a monthlong investigation, Chester and Ludlow Police have charged an 18-year-old Chester man with two counts of sexual assault in incidents that occurred in October 2016 in Ludlow and in May 2017 in Chester to two separate victims. All are students at Green Mountain Union High.

Ryan Stocker was arrested and charged on Monday at the Chester Police office and arraigned Tuesday in Windsor County Criminal Court in White River Junction, where he plead not guilty to both charges.

During the arraignment, State’s Attorney Heidi Remick told Judge Theresa DiMauro that “the evidence of guilt is great” and asked that Stocker be held without bail since each charge carries a possible life sentence. Remick noted that Stocker has admitted to having sex with the two young women but said it was consensual.

Public defender Robert Lees said that Stocker was trying to observe all of the conditions of release. He added that Stocker was born in Springfield and has a number of family members in the area including his father and grandparents in Chester and grandparents in Ludlow. Several of Stocker’s relatives were in the courtroom.

Lees told the court that Stocker is about to graduate from Green Mountain Union High School, but he would not be attending the ceremony, and that he has two final exams remaining, which he will take off school premises. He also said that Stocker has been accepted to Franklin Pierce University.

Lees said Stocker was open to any other conditions set by the court.

“These are obviously very serious charges which carry the potential sentence of life in prison,” said Judge  DiMauro, “and the presumption is against release.” Under Vermont statutes, sexual assault is a felony and each count carries a minimum sentence of three years in prison with a maximum of life. In addition the court may levy a fine of up to $25,000 for each count.

But DiMauro noted that Stocker had no previous criminal history and said, given his age, she was reluctant to hold him without bail.

“With other charges coming,” said DiMauro, “that might change.” She also noted that his conditions of release may be altered by additional charges. Currently, Stocker is required to stay at his father’s home 24 hours a day, seven days a week except for court dates, meetings with his attorney, doctor visits and emergency medical treatment. Among the numerous conditions was no alcohol, no contact with the victims and no contact with females under 18.

According to the charging documents, in both incidents the victims were at someone else’s home, they were provided alcohol and both got sick.

The Chester victim stated that at the time of the encounter, she did not feel that she was in control of herself or the situation and could not stop what was happening. While the Chester victim could remember some details of what happened, she said others were unclear. She also told police that she and Stocker had been close friends for years, but had never been in an intimate relationship.

In her statement to police, the Ludlow victim, who was 16 at the time of the incident, said she drank about three beers but suddenly felt very dizzy and vomited “all over herself and the couch.” She also “experienced some visual disturbances … then was extremely sleepy.” She told police that someone helped her into another room and was “laid on a mattress.” She told police she fell asleep clothed and awoke the next morning “disoriented and confused,”  without her pants on and next to Stocker, who was “cuddling” her.  When she told him to get off her and asked him what was going on, she said he replied, “You don’t remember?” and shortly thereafter said, “we had sex.”

On Monday, Chester Det. Andrew Brothers told The Telegraph that Stocker has been cooperative. “He’s been extremely helpful. We asked him to come in to talk with us and he’s never blown it off,” said Brothers. “He’s been very respectful and cooperative.”

The cases came to light when the mother of the Chester victim approached the Green Mountain School Board on Thursday June 8 and asked what the high school was doing to educate students about sexual assault and protect them from it. Neither incident occurred in the school nor did they occur at school-sponsored events.

In an interview Monday, June 12, the mother said that her daughter said the alleged perpetrator provided some of the alcohol at the Saturday, May 6 party where her daughter was assaulted.  Her daughter reported the assault to the school on Monday, May 8 and the Chester Police got involved soon after. On May 11, the Chester victim told police that she had spoken with a younger friend who said that a similar incident in which Stocker had had sex with her when she was under the influence.

“From my perspective,” said Det. Brothers on Monday, “the issue of underage alcohol consumption is as big an issue as the opiate problem.” He noted that kids are drinking at a younger age.

At the June 8 school board meeting, board chair Alison DesLauriers said to Principal Tom Ferenc and Two Rivers Superintendent Meg Powden,  “At some point we will be asking you the plan for providing this kind of prevention education.” 

A message left on Ferenc’s work phone Tuesday seeking more information was not returned as of publication time.

Stocker is scheduled to make pretrial court appearances in September and November with a jury draw scheduled for the fall of this year.

As the investigation continues, police from both Chester and Ludlow are asking that anyone with information to contact them at 875-2035 and 228-4411, respectively.