Windsor County Sheriff Faces New Sex Crime Charges

Windsor County Sheriff Ryan Palmer faces new sex crime charges after additional women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct, Vermont State Police announced Thursday.

Palmer, 39, of Windsor, already pleaded not guilty in late January to seven charges: lewd and lascivious conduct, two counts of soliciting prostitution, two counts of aggravated stalking with a deadly weapon, and two counts of obstructing justice. State police detectives have now filed a new affidavit in support of additional charges, including solicitation of prostitution and lewd and lascivious conduct, according to a state police press release.

The new charges are significant. They build on an earlier set of allegations that described Palmer paying three women to watch him perform sex acts in person or online, and stalking two of them by driving past them in his sheriff’s department cruiser after they ended contact with him.

The latest affidavit, reported by VTDigger, was submitted to the Bennington County State’s Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the Palmer cases. “The charges allege Palmer paid a woman on multiple occasions to participate in sex acts, and that he sent unsolicited sexual material to another woman,” according to the state police press release.

Palmer is expected to be arraigned on the new charges at his next scheduled court hearing, set for May 14.

His attorney, Daniel Sedon, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The case has already cost Palmer his law enforcement standing. Shortly after his January arraignment, the Vermont Criminal Justice Council, the state body that regulates law enforcement certification in Vermont, temporarily revoked his certification. Palmer has said he stepped away from his duties, and another person is running day-to-day operations at the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department.

For Upper Valley residents, the case hits close. Windsor County sits directly across the Connecticut River from Grafton County, New Hampshire, and the sheriff’s department serves communities throughout the region, including towns a short drive from Hanover. The fact that the accused is a sitting sheriff, someone who held a public trust and operated a department with power to detain and surveil, gives the charges a different weight than a private citizen facing similar allegations. Stalking two women in a marked cruiser is not incidental. It is an allegation of using state power as a tool of intimidation.

The Windsor County Sheriff’s Department has not issued a public statement on the status of internal reviews or any changes to department oversight since Palmer stepped back from operations.

State police have not said how many additional women came forward as part of the continuing investigation, and it’s not clear whether the new affidavit covers all reported incidents or whether further charges could follow. Prosecutors at the Bennington County State’s Attorney’s Office haven’t publicly addressed whether they expect the case to expand again before the May 14 hearing.

Palmer won election as Windsor County Sheriff in 2022, taking office in early 2023. He ran on a platform that emphasized community trust and professional law enforcement. The contrast between that campaign and the charges he now faces, which describe a pattern of paying women for sex acts and using a department vehicle to track those who refused further contact, has drawn sharp criticism from Vermont law enforcement observers and local officials across Windsor County.

Seven initial charges in January. More to come in May. The accumulation of allegations from multiple women, the involvement of a department-issued cruiser, and the temporary loss of his law enforcement certification together describe a case that Vermont prosecutors appear to be building methodically, charge by charge, as new information surfaces.