BURLINGTON — The Vermont man charged with kidnapping a woman and her 5-year-old son in New Hampshire and later sexually assaulting the woman in Vermont must stay in custody, a federal court magistrate ruled on Tuesday.
Everett Simpson, wearing a red prison jumpsuit, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Conroy, who agreed with prosecutors who argued there was no way to protect the public and guarantee Simpson would appear for future court appearances if he were released.
“This is an exceedingly serious case,” Conroy said.
If convicted, the 41-year-old Simpson, who has a criminal history dating to 1995, could be sentenced to life in prison.
During the 10-minute hearing, Simpson answered Conroy’s questions, but Simpson did not address the underlying charges he is facing.
Simpson’s attorney David McColgin, who had asked that Simpson be released due to his strong ties to the community, declined comment after the hearing.
Simpson is charged with leaving a Bradford drug abuse treatment center on Jan. 4 and traveling to Manchester where he pushed a woman and her child into their car outside the Mall of New Hampshire.
According to an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Jennie Emmonds, Simpson told the woman he was looking for his wife, who he said was named Sherise, and they drove to the Fairlee/Bradford area, where he had her get out of the car and knock on the door of a house to see if Sherise was there. Simpson kept the boy in the car with him, and after the woman got back in the car, Simpson allegedly tried to sexually assault her in the car near Pavillion Road and Route 5 in Thetford.
Around 3:45 p.m. that Saturday, Thetford police received multiple emergency calls saying a young woman was screaming for help and trying to escape from a moving vehicle.
The woman said she was afraid Simpson would try to kill her and her son on a roadside and convinced him to take them to a hotel, where cameras might be present. Simpson drove her to the Comfort Inn in White River Junction and had her rent a room with her credit card, according to the FBI affidavit.
The woman told police that he sexually assaulted her in the room at the Comfort Inn in front of her son and then left, according to the complaint. That set off a manhunt for Simpson, a former resident of St. Albans, Vt. The FBI, Vermont State Police and the Hartford Police Department worked together on the search.
Simpson had escaped from the Valley Vista addiction treatment facility in Bradford, Vt., and driven to New Hampshire in a vehicle he stole in Bradford, police said. His wife, Sherise, told Vermont State Police she had been in hiding after learning Simpson had left Valley Vista on Jan. 2
Simpson also allegedly told the woman that he knew where she lived and that he would kill her if she contacted police, according to court documents filed by prosecutors urging that he be held.
After leaving Vermont, Simpson fled to Pennsylvania where police spotted the stolen car he allegedly was driving. The car eventually was abandoned, and police were searching for the driver when another vehicle was reported stolen.
Officers gave chase again, and that car crashed into a telephone pole. Simpson was taken into custody by police in Upper Darby Township.
Simpson is due to make his next court appearance later this month.