For nearly a month, a group has gathered each Thursday along Stoweâs Main Street to voice support for survivors of sexual assault and call for both the dismissal of embattled fire chief Kyle Walker and policy changes for the town.
As town officials stand by Walker, protesters say they arenât backing down.
âI still want the town to remove him, or I want him to step down,â said Sarah Henshaw, a Stowe business owner who has led public condemnation of the fire chief. âI donât think he can do an effective job as fire chief. At this point, I think there are women like myself who are fearful of having to call on him as a public safety officer in our town.
The woman who accused Stoweâs fire department chief of rape during years of sexual encounters when he was a Stowe police officer has shed her anonymity, even as her alleged assailant maintains their relationship was consensual.
She says she came forward in order to encourage other survivors of domestic and sexual violence to break their silence.
Rachel Fisher accused Stowe Fire Chief Kyle Walker of abusing her over the course of several years between 2009 and 2013 when he was a full-time police officer. She first came forward to police in January but is now coming forward publicly for the first time.
No charges were filed against Stowe Fire Departmentâs chief Kyle Walker after a three-month-long investigation into sex crime allegations.
Walker was, however, suspended for 10 days without pay and lost his other job, as a part-time police officer, when it was mutually agreed that he would step down, according to his boss, town manager Charles Safford.
He allegedly had sex â on duty, in his cruiser â about a decade ago.
While he didnât mention the nature of the accusations against him, Walker admitted violating police department rules in a written statement.
âThis past January, the Vermont State Police launched an investigation based on allegations against me,â Walker wrote in the statement this week. âThe investigation, along with review from the stateâs attorney, determined that there were no grounds for prosecution. From the onset, I have been completely transparent with the investigation and my employer.
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MONTPELIER â A bill intended to update the stateâs sexual assault criminal statute with a new definition of consent accounting for the role of alcohol and other drugs is on course to be voted out of the Senate Judicial Committee on Friday.
The bill, H. 183, had a questionable future when the Committee last discussed it on Friday. Lawmakers were frustrated with the language in the House proposal. That frustration was not well-received by the billâs House supporters.
But a second effort, and some inspiration from a state thousands of miles away, have revived the billâs prospects for passage as the session wanes. Over the weekend, legislative counsel Michele Childs and Washington County Stateâs Attorney Rory Thibault worked on updating the bill with consent language adopted from Oklahomaâs criminal statute.
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MONTPELIER â A bill updating Vermontâs sexual assault law is scheduled to be taken up again by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, with the hope that revised language on consent will allow the bill to move forward.
The bill, H.183, was passed by the House by voice vote in March. It would update state law to clarify that sexual consent cannot be granted âwhen the other person is incapable of consenting to the sexual act due to substantial impairment by alcohol, drugs, or other intoxicants and that condition is known or reasonably should be known by the person.â