VT- State says mom knew of sex abuse

12-19-2008 Vermont:

A girl repeatedly sexually assaulted by family friend Mark Hulett told a therapist in the spring she recently received a letter from her mother saying she would have protected her daughter if only she'd been aware of the abuse.

The girl, 6 years old when the abuse began in 2001, glanced up at the counselor and said, "She knew, you know."

One time, the girl reported, Hulett was performing a sex act on her when her mother walked into the bedroom. She placed a dose of medicine on a table, then turned and left. The woman was wearing a shirt that read "World's Best Mother," the daughter recalled.

There were at least five other instances, but her mother never intervened, the girl said.

The girl's story, which a detective later would relate in court papers, triggered a police investigation that led prosecutors to charge the mother Thursday with cruelty to a child younger than 10. The woman's conduct exposed her daughter to harm and required a state response, prosecutors said.

"It's egregious; it's outrageous, and it's criminal," Chittenden County State's Attorney T.J. Donovan said. "She needs to be prosecuted. She needs to be held accountable."

The 33-year-old Williston woman -- whose name The Burlington Free Press is withholding in order to protect the identity of the girl -- pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge in Vermont District Court in Burlington and was released without having to post bail. In a sometimes-tearful interview afterward, the mother claimed she knew nothing about the repeated abuse, which continued until the girl turned 10 in 2005.

"I was just a victim, just like she was," the woman said. "It's not right that I'm now getting charged for it."

Conviction carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and $500 in fines.

Hulett's case was among the most contentious court proceedings in recent Vermont memory. Now 37, Hulett admitted charges of sexual assault in August 2005. In January 2006, Hulett received a prison sentence critics derided as exceedingly lenient, which ignited a controversy in Vermont that spread nationwide and prompted changes in the state's sex-offender laws.

Prosecutors charged the mother years after the abuse because Vermont law required the therapist to report the girl's disclosure to authorities. But the woman and her husband, the girl's stepfather, said they have suffered enough and have become the target of persecution by an overzealous, disingenuous prosecutor.

Plea deal rejected

Donovan said he offered the woman a plea bargain that would incarcerate her for a year, but she rejected the deal. The mother said she has no intention of accepting any arrangement.

"I did not see anything, and if I did I would have kicked him out myself and gone down to the police station and done something about it right then and there," the woman said. "We're going to fight this, take it through the whole process and fight this."

Judge Ben Joseph ordered her released on a number of conditions, including a ban on contacting her daughter, now 13, and a requirement that she have no interaction with other children younger than 16 unless a parent is present.

Another couple adopted the girl last year. The woman said the last time she saw her daughter was in September 2007.

Judge Edward Cashman sentenced Hulett, a Williston resident, twice in January 2006. Cashman first imposed a term of 60 days to life; he said the sentence was necessary because Hulett needed sex-offender treatment, but the Corrections Department refused to provide counseling in prison. As controversy spread, Corrections reversed course and allowed Hulett to receive treatment while in prison. Cashman then increased the sentence to a three-year minimum.

Hulett's term expires Jan. 2. He will become eligible for release after he completes his six-month counseling program, scheduled to conclude this month, and finds acceptable housing. The department has said the housing requirement might prove difficult and could delay Hulett's release.

Charges defended

The girl's stepfather said Thursday he and his wife "made a mistake" in allowing Hulett to stay at their home -- court papers say the couple allowed Hulett and the girl to share a bedroom, and even a bed -- but the state is making them scapegoats for another person's crimes.

"We paid our punishment," the man, 39, said, referring to the loss of their daughter's custody. "They have to blame somebody. They have to find somebody. So they're pinning it on her. Who knows -- I might be next."

The mother said she didn't know why prosecutors chose to pursue the case now, and she appeared surprised when told her daughter had raised the allegations. But court papers say authorities confronted the woman about the girl's comments, and she admitted seeing what she believed was a sex act between Hulett and her daughter but not interfering.

A sworn police statement written by Detective Lance Burnham of the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations also describes an incident in which the stepfather witnessed a possible sex act but responded only by raising concerns about Hulett with his wife.

The investigation is continuing, Donovan said, but he does not expect to charge the stepfather because the state has questions about his mental acuity. The government's pursuit of charges against the mother is appropriate even after so much time has passed, the prosecutor said.

"We're aware of the wounds this case inflicted three years ago, particularly to the victim and to this community," he said. "None of us want to open old wounds, but we can't turn a blind eye to a mother who allows this to happen." ..News Source.. by Adam Silverman • Free Press Staff Writer