Vt. man sentenced for kidnapping woman and her child while searching for his estranged wife

BURLINGTON, Vt. (TCN) -- A 46-year-old man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for kidnapping a woman and her child outside a mall in New Hampshire, sexually assaulting the mother, and leaving the pair in Vermont.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont announced Monday, June 17, that Everett Simpson will be required to spend 300 months in prison, plus five years of post-release supervision. Simpson was convicted in April 2023 of two counts of kidnapping and two counts of interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, on Jan. 4, 2019, Simpson ran away from a treatment facility in Vermont where he was required to stay as part his of bond conditions related to another case. However, he left after less than a day. On the morning of June 5, 2019, Simpson stole a van from the facility and fled to New Hampshire. He later abandoned the car in a parking lot in downtown Manchester and went to the Mall of New Hampshire.

While at the mall, he reportedly "forced his way into a young woman’s car," pushed her into the front seat, and drove off with her 4-year-old child in the back. Simpson traveled back to Vermont with the woman and her child, who were held against their will. Prosecutors said Simpson was searching for his estranged wife in Vermont but gave up. Simpson then sexually assaulted the mother several times in the car and at a hotel.

Simpson freed the mother and her child but stole the car and left the state again. Law enforcement caught up with him in Pennsylvania and arrested him following two pursuits. After the first pursuit, he reportedly stole another car.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont Nikolas Kerest said, "The defendant’s crimes were extraordinarily serious — both in their violent and random nature. An across-the-board guilty verdict in April and today’s sentencing closes a dark period in two victims' lives and hopefully allows their healing process to continue and provides a sense of security to them and others, knowing that the community will be protected from this defendant for many years to come."

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