Teen charged in sex assaults appears in court on ‘furnishing’ charge

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION

Having plead not guilty to a charge of furnishing malt beverages to a minor in Windsor Superior Court on Aug. 29, Ryan Stocker was back in a White River Junction courtroom on Tuesday afternoon to tell the court whether he had secured attorney representation on the new charges or planned to represent himself.

Stocker told Judge Robert P. Gerety that he wanted to be represented by Attorney Melvin Fink but that he had not spoken with him during the intervening two weeks because he had been told that Fink would be notified of his status.

“Told by who? asked Gerety.

“The public defender,” said Stocker.

“Have you made any attempt to contact him?” asked Gerety.

“No,” said Stocker.

“You’ve got to take the responsibility to contact Mr. Fink,” said Gerety scheduling another “appear or attorney” for Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 1 p.m. “Contact him tonight or tomorrow.”

In this instance, Stocker is accused of providing alcohol to an underage female in Chester in 2016. According to charging documents, police found underage drinking at a party on June 6, 2016. The 16-year-old girl was staying at a family house and told police that she was having a party and more people than expected showed up. The teen told police that she had given Stocker $20 for some Bud Light and that he had brought “a whole bunch of stuff” and just “stocked the fridge.”  While at the house, the Chester officer saw “multiple boxes of Bud Light” under Stocker’s Jeep in the driveway.

When interviewed by police, Stocker said that he had been at the party and fled into the woods when police arrived, but denied furnishing the alcohol. Stocker was originally cited on the charge as a juvenile on July 10, 2016.  Since juvenile cases are not public, there is no information available about the disposition of the charge, but Stocker was charged for the offense as an adult on Aug. 29, 2017. The reason why is unclear.

While this charge is not directly related to the three incidents that resulted in charges of sexual assault and kidnapping being brought against Stocker in June and August, the provision of alcohol to an underage female is related to conduct alleged in those cases. There are no allegations of sexual misconduct in this incident.

Stocker continues to be held on $100,000 bail with $500 bail on the new charges. His next two appearances in court (a status conference on the sexual assault and kidnapping charges brought in August and the rescheduled “appear or attorney”) are on Sept. 19. A pre-trial hearing and jury drawing are scheduled for March 2018.

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