Windsor County Sheriff Ryan Palmer has pleaded not guilty in Vermont Superior Court to five more criminal counts, including charges of extortion, lewd and lascivious conduct and soliciting for prostitution.
The new charges stem from information developed when two more women came forward to make claims of sexual misconduct against Palmer after he was initially arraigned in late January, according to Vermont State Police.
During the January court hearing Palmer denied two counts of aggravated stalking with a deadly weapon, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of prohibited acts and one count of lewd and lascivious conduct.
This month, state prosecutor Jared Bianchi of Bennington had tried to file 10 more charges, but Judge Cortland Corsones said he was unable to find a legal basis to proceed with five of the new counts.
The charges maintain Palmer paid a woman on multiple occasions to participate in sex acts, and that he sent unsolicited sexual material to another woman, state police said.
Palmer, 39, of Windsor, denied the new charges, including three counts for soliciting for prostitution. He was released during the 8-minute hearing on the same conditions as his January arraignment, including no contact with complaining witnesses.
Palmer is due back in the Rutland court on May 14 for a status conference.
The high-profile case has been moved to Rutland County to avoid a possible conflict of interest in Palmer’s home county where his office provides security at the courthouse.
For more on this, please see our April 30 edition of the Vermont Standard.
