MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — In an action with no precedent in Vermont, the state Senate voted Wednesday to suspend a lawmaker who faces criminal sex charges that could send him to prison for life.
Sen. Norman McAllister, a Franklin County Republican, was arrested May 7 outside the Statehouse and arraigned the next day on three counts of felony sexual assault and three counts of misdemeanor prohibited acts.
Prosecutors say he sexually assaulted two women who were tenants and employees on his Highgate dairy farm and solicited a third for sex. One of his accusers worked for him at the Statehouse as an assistant.
McAllister has maintained his innocence and rejected calls — including from Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin and Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Scott — for his resignation, saying his intention was to continue with “the job I was elected to do.”
Those who backed McAllister’s removal said his presence — and the subsequent media attention — were interfering with Senate business. Opponents of his removal pointed to the principle of innocent until proved guilty and argued that the Senate should wait for the outcome of McAllister’s court case.
The arrest of McAllister, a 64-year-old dairy farmer, came the week before lawmakers adjourned their 2015 session, and discussion has swirled since then over whether the Senate might expel or suspend him. He served five terms in the House and two terms in the Senate.
At a special meeting Dec. 16, the Senate Rules Committee voted 3-2 to recommend his suspension. And when lawmakers reconvened Tuesday, one of the first orders of business was to put the matter on the Senate calendar for Wednesday.
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