No time behind bars. $100 fine.
A former deputy with the Caledonia County Sheriff’s Department has been permanently banned from working in law enforcement in Vermont, nearly two years after he pleaded guilty to charges related to soliciting sex and nude photos from women he encountered while on duty.
Bunnell pleaded guilty in March 2022 in Caledonia County Superior criminal court in St. Johnsbury to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct by phone and prohibited conduct.
The plea deal called for a $100 fine on the disorderly conduct charge and a two-year deferred sentence on the prohibited conduct charge.
The prohibited conduct charge stated that Bunnell offered money to a woman in exchange for nude photos. The disorderly charge stated that Bunnell repeatedly contacted a different woman “to harass” her into providing him with nude photos.
As part of the plea agreement, two other charges of committing prohibited acts were dismissed.
One hundred dollar fine. Talk about corruption of the courts. That judge needs to be named and shamed. The police officer is a sexual preditor.
It was a plea agreement so don’t forget to lump the prosecutor in with the judge.
Yeah, and I’ve gotta wonder if the women this pathetic loser was preying on got any say on the deal and on the faux-punishment that was handed out? If I was a victim and the AG came to me and said “hey we can skip the trial, the dirtbag will get a slap on the wrist, but he’ll never work as a cop around here again, whatddya say?” I imagine I’d say “duck no, I want to see this bastard do time and pay six-figure restitution, preferably to us victims”.
The punishment is laughable, but being barred from law enforcement in the state is very much a step in the right direction. Every state in the Union should have stiff laws in place which prevent bad cops from simply moving from one jurisdiction to the next.
He will be employed in the next state over
I’m shocked he got any consequences at all. His magic costume must’ve not been enough to grant immunity for once.
It’s kind of like being rich, they only throw you out of the club if you are somehow a danger to the rest of the club.
“Your Honor, that’s not who I am.”
“My biggest regret is that I was caught.”
ACAB
1000%
Anyone who says that there are some good cops are full of shit. Every cop is at least complicit in corruption and crime. My mom’s friend’s husband is a cop and my mom was like, “oh he’s such a a good man. Been a cop for 15 years!” and I responded with something like “Dude wouldn’t be a cop for long if he didn’t participate in or turn a blind eye to corruption and straight up crimes. Cops who are against that aren’t cops for long.”
Like, the person she was talking about might be nice enough outside of work, but he is 100% a bastard at LEAST while on duty. Like every other cop.
