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.
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