Vermont man sentenced to 25 years in prison for kidnapping woman and son outside mall | National

Everett Simpson, 46, was convicted by a federal court jury last year on two counts of kidnapping and two counts of interstate auto theft. He had acted as his own lawyer during the trial and at sentencing Monday. An email seeking comment from his standby public defender was sent Tuesday.

The sentencing “closes a dark period in the lives of both victims and will hopefully allow their healing process to continue and provide them and others with a sense of security,” the U.S. Attorney for Vermont, Nikolas Kerest, in a press release.

Simpson admitted to the jury that he left a Vermont drug treatment center shortly after being dropped off there on the night of Jan. 4, 2019, to undergo court-ordered drug treatment as part of another matter.

He stole a van parked in a nearby driveway and drove it to Manchester, New Hampshire, where it was abandoned the next day. Simpson admitted to returning to White River Junction, Vermont, with the alleged victim and her son in her car. But he said the woman agreed to do so and had the option to leave if she wanted.

“I'm guilty of a lot of things, but not kidnapping,” Simpson said in court last year.

The woman and her child were taken to a motel in Vermont. Simpson then took the victim's car to Pennsylvania, where he was eventually arrested.

Court documents say the victim was sexually assaulted while at the motel, but the federal charges did not include sexual assault. Simpson, however, faces separate sexual assault charges in the state.

Simpson said he fled the treatment center because he was trying to reunite with his ex-wife, who he said was in a relationship with another man.

In 2020, the woman was awarded $400,000 in settlement of a lawsuit accusing the state of Vermont of not doing enough to find Simpson after he left the treatment center. The woman also said she received a significant amount of money from the treatment center, but the exact amount is unclear.

Victim impact statements were filed under seal in the federal case because they contain personal information and statements from or about victims of a violent crime, prosecutors said. Sentencing memorandums from both sides were also sealed.