RUTLAND — Windsor County Sheriff Ryan Palmer pleaded not guilty to five additional charges of sexual misconduct in Rutland Superior Court on Friday afternoon.
Palmer, 39, was first arrested in late January on multiple sexual misconduct charges and now faces a total of 12 charges.
In January, he pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice, two felony counts of aggravated stalking with a deadly weapon, a felony count of lewd and lascivious conduct and two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution.
Initial charges against the sheriff allege that he engaged in a pattern of predatory behavior between 2024 and 2025 involving three victims, payments for sex acts, encouragement to lie to investigators and stalking of the victims’ homes and work places, the Valley News previously reported.
Vermont State Police announced new charges against Palmer earlier this month, after more women came forward during the months-long investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct.
He now faces an additional felony charge of lewd and lascivious conduct and misdemeanor charges of voyeurism and three counts of solicitation of prostitution.
Palmer pointed to Judge Cortland Corsones’ April 16 dismissal for lack of evidence of five additional charges — including extortion and compounding a felony — in his remarks to the media following his arraignment on Friday afternoon.
“Without diving into this too much, I think it’s pretty clear what the judge thought of the new charges,” Palmer said. “We’re going to keep moving forward in the legal process and go from there.”
The new charges Palmer faces stem from allegations from two women who have come forward since his January arrest. Police allege Palmer paid one woman “on multiple occasions to participate in sex acts and that he sent unsolicited sexual material to another woman,” police stated in an April 16 news release.
In February of this year, a woman came forward to police who said she had known Palmer since 2013 when he was an officer with the Ludlow Police Department, according to the affidavit in support of additional charges.
From 2020 to Jan. 8, 2026, just a couple weeks before Palmer was arrested and charged with the original sexual misconduct charges, Palmer allegedly reached out to her online to have her watch him perform sex acts in exchange for a total of around $2,000, the affidavit states.
On one occasion in May 2025, he allegedly masturbated on Facetime with her while he was in uniform. The affidavit shows an Apple Pay payment to the woman of $50 for the call.
Online requests and payments for watching the sheriff perform sexual acts eventually “escalated with him requesting for her to go to his residence to be paid to have sex with him,” the affidavit states.
The woman also told police that Palmer recorded a sexual encounter between the two of them despite “never consent(ing) to being filmed.”
The affidavit also alleges “she was aware of multiple victims who were not ready to speak with authorities about their involvement with (Palmer) regarding being paid for sexual acts.”
A second victim came forward shortly after Palmer’s arrest in late January. “Palmer offered her money for sexual acts, but she told him he isn’t a prostitute,” the affidavit alleges.
She also told police Palmer offered her money and “would be masturbating when he Facetimed her” as recently as the days prior to his arrest.
“It should be noted that two other women came forward, providing statements that they were propositioned to ‘Facetime’ and watch Palmer masturbate for money,” the affidavit states. “Both women advised that they refused to participate in these acts and ended communication with Palmer.”
The charges of alleged sexual misconduct against Palmer stemmed from a state police investigation into the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department’s finances in July, police have said.
Financial records recently obtained by the Valley News show roughly $100,000 in department expenses on Amazon, restaurants, retail and grocery stores, hotels and checks from the department to Palmer over his first three years in office.
Efforts to reach Palmer and his attorney Daniel Sedon were unsuccessful during the review of the department’s bank statements.
After the story’s online publication on Wednesday evening, the department released a letter on Facebook signed by Palmer, attempting to justify most but not all of the expenditures as “legitimate law enforcement operations, professional development, community engagement, and departmental growth, not misuse of funds.”
The post did not include documentation supporting the explanation of the spending.
Chief Deputy Claude Weyant, whom Palmer placed in charge of the department’s day-to-day operations in the wake of his arrest, told the Valley News on Thursday that he heard about the statement but hadn’t read it. Weyant previously said he did not have an explanation for the charges in question.
He said “solely Sheriff Palmer” was responsible for the statement. Though it appeared to be on the department’s stationery, it did not come from the department as a whole.
“The only people that can put something on (the department’s Facebook page are) Ryan and … one of the deputies that doesn’t work with us anymore,” Weyant said.
In Rutland on Friday, when asked to comment on the statement released on the department’s Facebook page , Palmer said, “The statement speaks for itself.”
Addressing several members of the media, Palmer said he doesn’t plan on stepping down from his role as sheriff and hasn’t decided whether he will run for the office again. The deadline to file consent of candidate, financial disclosure and petition for nomination forms to the Windsor County Clerk is May 28.
He did resign from his position on the Windsor Selectboard following his January arrest.
Palmer said Weyant, who announced his candidacy for sheriff in March, is still running day-to-day operations, but “we’re in communication.”
“Chief Deputy Weyant and the crew have done a fantastic job at still continuing to serve the people of Windsor County,” he said.
As of Friday, Palmer was scheduled for a status conference in Rutland Superior Court on May 14 at 8:45 a.m.
