St. Albans, Vt.
Franklin County Superior Court Judge Martin Maley sentenced McAllister on Tuesday to 25 days on a work crew and one year of probation. Maley also required that he undergo sex offender counseling.
McAllister was convicted on a charge of misdemeanor prohibited acts, which carries up to one year in prison and up to a $100 fine.
The state argued he should serve at least nine months.
McAllister, 66, had been arrested at the Statehouse in 2015. He initially faced two counts of felony sexual assault alleging he raped two women who worked for him — one of whom was the tenant farmhand — as well as three counts of prohibited acts relating to prostitution. One of the charges of prohibited acts was later dropped.
The former lawmaker has undergone two trials, each involving a different woman.
One of the sexual assault charges was dropped during his first trial, in 2016, when it was discovered that his accuser perjured herself on a detail during her testimony. The woman in that case had worked as an intern for McAllister in Montpelier.
At a jury trial in July, McAllister was acquitted of a second felony sexual assault charge alleging he twice raped the woman who had lived and worked on his Highgate, Vt., farm.
That jury also acquitted him of a prohibited acts charge alleging that his entire relationship with that woman, spanning several years from 2012 to his arrest, was coercive and amounted to prostitution.
The jury did, however, convict McAllister on a second prohibited acts charge that said he arranged for the woman to have sex with one of his friends in order to pay back $70 that McAllister loaned her.
She gave a statement on Tuesday at the hearing before the sentence was imposed, saying that as difficult as it was for her to relive the abuse she said McAllister inflicted on her, “I feel it’s been worth it to get where we are today.”
The woman brought up a phone conversation she had with McAllister, which was recorded by state police and presented as evidence at trial.
“As embarrassing as that conversation was, it was gratifying to hear him say he had always known that I didn’t want him touching me in any way, and that he could tell I was repulsed by him,” she said.
Assistant State’s Attorney John Lavoie argued that McAllister should be sentenced to nine to 12 months in prison, because it would deter the former senator from exploiting vulnerable women in the future and send a message to the public that such behavior will be punished.
Lavoie said McAllister had tried to portray himself as a public servant in a sentencing motion filed by his attorney, but he reminded Maley that a jury “has identified him as a pimp, and that’s what he is today before the court.”
A prison sentence would not be entirely punitive, because McAllister would be able to complete his sex offender counseling while incarcerated, Lavoie said.
McAllister’s lawyer, Bob Katims, argued that a prison sentence for a 66-year-old with no prior criminal record convicted of a misdemeanor would be “unprecedented and completely disproportionate.”
Katims said the court did not need to be concerned in this case with what is known as “general deterrence,” or the idea that sentences can dissuade the public from specific criminal behavior.
“I don’t think anyone would want to be in Mr. McAllister’s shoes given his experience since his arrest on the Statehouse steps,” Katims said.
The charges led McAllister to be suspended from the Senate and eventually sunk his prospects for re-election. His son has said defending against the charges cost the family hundreds of thousands of dollars and forced McAllister to “sign over” the family farm.
The former lawmaker declined to address the court on Tuesday, and in brief remarks after the hearing he maintained his innocence on all of the charges. Katims said he would appeal the lone conviction to the Vermont Supreme Court.
Maley said he considered character references provided in McAllister’s sentencing motion and did not doubt McAllister could be a “charming” person, but said he had also found his victim to be credible.
The judge said McAllister’s statements at trial that she had initiated their sexual relationship after his wife’s death, when he was grief-stricken and vulnerable, were an “awkward piece of testimony.”
Maley questioned whether McAllister has accepted any responsibility for his behavior or recognized that he was exploiting a power dynamic as an elected official and the woman’s employer and landlord. He said McAllister’s actions were selfish and had clearly hurt the woman.
However, Maley said that because McAllister was convicted only of a misdemeanor, “the court must temper its response,” adding that he agreed a prison sentence would be unusual for a first-time offender that age convicted of prohibited acts.
McAllister’s sentencing hearing took place against the backdrop of a national conversation about misogyny and sexual harassment or violence against women sparked by allegations against film executive Harvey Weinstein. Those accusations have sparked a social media trend of women sharing their experiences using the hashtag #MeToo.
At roughly the same time McAllister’s sentencing hearing ended, the Vermont Public Radio program “Vermont Edition” was convening a panel to discuss cultural attitudes toward misogyny and sexual misconduct.
Lavoie alluded to that broader cultural context in his sentencing argument, saying all too often women who come forward with allegations of sexual assault are treated as criminals and not victims.
“It’s only now that we’re beginning to listen to those stories,” Lavoie said.
McAllister’s victim was even more blunt: “Unfortunately in this world we live in, sometimes a man can confess his sins and not have to pay an individual price for them.”