Vermont has settled a lawsuit brought by a New Hampshire woman police say was kidnapped along with her 4-year-old son and sexually assaulted by a man believed to have run away from a Vermont addiction treatment center
WATERBURY, Vt. — Vermont has settled a lawsuit brought by a New Hampshire woman police say was kidnapped along with her 4-year-old son and sexually assaulted by a man who believed to have run away from a Vermont addiction treatment center.
The woman sued the state of Vermont and the center for not doing enough after the man fled in February.
A spokesman for the Vermont State Police announced Friday that the victim will receive $300,000 and her son will get $100,000. The state has admitted no wrongdoing.
The man, identified as Everett Simpson, has pleaded not guilty to federal kidnapping charges.
Simpson had been released from jail to get treatment at Valley Vista on. Jan. 3. As part of the conditions of his release, the lawsuit said, he was to have signed a document allowing the facility to immediately notify police if he left without permission.
The suit, which sought unspecified damages, says that it took the center about 90 minutes to notify police that Simpson was missing and that those delays kept police from capturing him in the hours after he left. Police have said Simpson has a criminal history dating back to 1995.
