Former Vermont corrections officer charged again
©2016 Burlington Free Press
State prosecutors have again brought charges against a former Vermont corrections officer, alleging he sexually exploited two inmates at the South Burlington correctional facility in 2013 and 2014.
A jury in March acquitted William H. Savaria III, 30, of Fairfax of an initial charge of sexual assault on an inmate stemming from alleged events in 2014. Last week, prosecutors filed the two new charges, saying he engaged in sex acts with two additional female inmates.
Savaria appeared in Vermont Superior Court in Burlington last Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to two charges of sexual exploitation of confined inmates. Judge James Crucitti ordered Savaria released on conditions, including that he have no contact with the two alleged victims.
Savaria resigned from his position at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in January 2015.
In court papers and during testimony at his trial, Savaria denied having sexual contact with any inmates while he served as a corrections officer. He said he was aware of a rumor at the facility that he had "messed around with" his initial accuser while she was incarcerated. Savaria admitted to meeting that woman after she was released from prison.
The Burlington Free Press does not name people who say they are the victims of sex crimes without their permission.
Savaria does not respond in court papers specifically to the allegations of the two other women. It is unclear from court papers whether he has retained a lawyer.
Attempts to contact Savaria and his lawyer in the previous case, E.M. Allen, were unsuccessful.
One of the accusers in the case filed last week was interviewed by police before the first case was filed in November 2014. She told investigators with the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations that Savaria would make sexual comments toward her and touch her inappropriately almost every day he worked in her unit in 2013, according to an affidavit written by Detective Trooper Matthew Hill. Hill is assigned to CUSI, a multi-agency task force that investigates alleged sex crimes.
The woman told police that each time Savaria touched her, "it wasn't like a relationship," and he made her feel uncomfortable, Hill wrote in the affidavit.
"I asked her if she felt like she could have told him 'no,'" Hill wrote. "She said, 'I feel like if I said no there would be consequences.'"
It is unclear why the woman's allegations were not also addressed in the initial case filed in 2014. Chittenden County Deputy State's Attorney Emily McCarthy said Monday the state filed charges supported by the evidence, and she declined to comment further.
The second woman, whose allegations spurred the other sexual exploitation charge, came forward in February as the initial case was gearing up for trial. The woman told police that she had been "sexually assaulted" by Savaria while she was incarcerated at the South Burlington correctional facility in 2014, Hill wrote in a second affidavit.
The woman said she had asked Savaria to bring her cigarettes, but she did not promise anything in return, Hill wrote.
"She thought Savaria might be under the impression that more would happen because she had kissed him before," Hill wrote in the affidavit. The woman added that she was scared and "felt violated" after one encounter where Savaria had touched her in a sexual manner.
The woman said she had been contacted by Savaria to testify on his behalf in court during his first case, but she refused the request, Hill wrote.
If convicted, Savaria faces up to five years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines for each of the two counts.
Former VT corrections officer acquitted
Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizMurraySMC.
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