Valley Vista’s headquarters in Bradford. The organization maintains 99 inpatient treatment beds for substance use disorder at two locations in Vermont. Courtesy photo
A New Hampshire woman has filed a lawsuit alleging that if the state of Vermont and a drug treatment center had done their jobs she would not have been kidnapped or sexually assaulted by a man who fled from that facility.
The 39-page lawsuit was filed Monday in Chittenden County Superior Court in Burlington by Michael Noonan, an attorney with the New Hampshire law firm Shaheen & Gordon, which is representing the woman and her 4-year-old child.
According to court records, Everett Simpson, 41, left the Valley Vista treatment center in Bradford on Jan. 4. The next day, police say, he was at the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester where he kidnapped the woman and her son, pushing them into their car.
Then, court records state, Simpson drove them to a Vermont motel where he sexually assaulted the 23-year-old woman. Simpson then fled to Pennsylvania where he was arrested after crashing a second car that police say he stole.
VTDigger generally does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault, but the woman bringing the lawsuit in this case had come forward to speak publicly.
“The past couple months have not been easy, but the most important thing is we made it out alive, and my son was not physically harmed,” Celia Roessler said in the statement.
Over the past couple of months, she said, friends and family have learned that she and her son were the ones police said were kidnapped at the mall of New Hampshire in Manchester by Simpson after he fled Valley Vista.
“Ultimately, I have decided to speak out today because I have nothing to hide from or be ashamed of,” Roessler said. “We are going to embrace the challenges we’ve been dealt, continue growing ever stronger, and move forward as best we can under the circumstances.”
She added, “I also hope something good can come of this lawsuit so that something like this never happens again. I was raised to make the best of any situation and that’s exactly what we will continue to do.”
The lawsuit names both the state of Vermont as well as OAS LLC, the parent company of the Valley Vista substance abuse treatment center, as defendants, as well as 10 other unnamed parties, of “John Does,” including employees of the facility and state troopers.
“It has become clear that this entire tragedy could have easily been prevented, but for Defendants’ continued gross negligence and/or conscious disregard of the consequences of their actions,” the lawsuit stated. “It has also become clear that this is far from an isolated incident.”
The lawsuit claims the defendants were negligent in their actions, or lack of actions. The filing seeks unspecified damages.
The law firm representing Roessler said last month that it had tried to settle claims against the state of Vermont and Valley Vista prior to bringing a lawsuit.
Anthony Carr, an attorney at the firm, said he had given the state a “deadline that has since passed” to settle the claims, or a lawsuit would be filed.
“At this point our full and complete focus is on aggressively litigating the claims,” Carr said Monday.
Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan said in a statement that “our sympathy goes out to the Plaintiff and her family, who were victims of a heinous crime.” He added that his office is currently reviewing the claims in the lawsuit.
“Once we have had an opportunity to evaluate the claims,” Donovan said, “we will reach out to the Plaintiff’s counsel.”
Officials with Valley Vista could not be reached Monday for comment.
According to the lawsuit, Roessler and her son met her mother and grandmother on Jan. 5 for their usual Saturday family lunch at the Mall of New Hampshire.
Following lunch, Roessler went to Payless Shoes at the mall to buy winter boots, leaving the mall about 10 minutes after her mother and grandmother, the filing stated.
It was about 12:45 p.m., according to the lawsuit, when back at her car in the parking lot having buckled her her son into his car seat, she was “violently elbowed” by a man, later identified by police as Simpson, into the passenger seat.
Everett Simpson. Courtesy photo
“Plaintiffs suddenly found themselves kidnapped, terrified and at the mercy of their abductor,” the lawsuit stated.
Simpson kept Roessler’s phone to keep her from calling from help, and once they were back to Vermont he demanded that she help him find his wife, according to the lawsuit.
When Simpson couldn’t find his wife, the filing stated, he drove to a remote road where he tried to rape her.
Roessler screamed, seeking to get the attention of nearby joggers, and Simpson drove off at 90 mph, according to the filing. He drove Roessler and her son to a motel in White River Junction where he raped her in front of the child, the lawsuit stated.
“Before leaving, Mr. Simpson took Celia’s driver’s license, wrote down her address, and told her that he knows where she lives and that if she contacts the police, he will find her and kill her,” according to the lawsuit.
“He then left Plaintiffs in the hotel room, stole Celia’s Kia Forte, and took off,” the lawsuit stated. “Celia waited approximately 5 minutes to make sure he was gone, and then called the police.”
Simpson had been facing criminal charges in Vermont stemming from his September arrest in a car-chase case in Caledonia County. He was released from state custody on Jan. 3 after posting $3,000 bail and ordered to attend the Valley Vista treatment facility, a 99-bed drug treatment facility for men women and adolescents.
A condition of that release required Valley Vista to notify state police if he fled the facility. According to state police, Valley Vista provided that notification on Friday, Jan. 4, after Simpson fled.
Simpson was arrested the day after the alleged assault, Sunday, Jan. 6, in Pennsylvania after crashing a car in a chase with police.
He had been held on $1 million bail in that state on charges stemming from that chase prior to his return to Vermont last month when he pleaded not guilty to federal kidnapping charges.
Late last week, Windsor County State’s Attorney David Cahill filed state sex charges against Simpson. He is currently being held without bail at the state prison in Swanton.
According to the lawsuit filed Monday, the state of Vermont and Valley Vista “voluntarily undertook and/or had a duty to undertake the performing of certain services in the event Mr. Simpson” fled the drug treatment center.
Those duties included Valley Vista “immediately” notifying police if he leaves against medical advice and that an “arrest warrant will issue immediately if he does leave” against medical advice.
“It took Valley Vista at least an hour and a half to realize and/or choose to notify Vermont State Police that Mr. Simpson had left their facility,” the lawsuit stated. “This significant delay is inexcusable and a far cry from ‘immediate.’”
Entrance to the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester. Wikimedia Commons photo
The pursuit of Simpson after he left Valley Vista treatment center prompted Vermont State Police to launch an internal investigation into its handling of the matter.
State police had said the agency was not notified by Valley Vista after Simpson fled the facility. However, state police said after further review that wasn’t the case.
State police also acknowledged that “additional steps should have been taken” in pursuit of Simpson, such as seeking a warrant for his arrest or alerting the public immediately after receiving notice that he left Valley Vista.
The lawsuit included a section under the heading, “Vermont’s conscious disregard.”
In that section, the filing alleges, “ … Vermont’s duties included a duty to exercise that reasonable degree of skill, knowledge, and care under the circumstances.”
In discharging this legal duty, the filing stated, “Vermont was required to take reasonable precautions to protect third parties from the danger created by the escape and/or release of Mr. Simpson including: immediately issuing an arrest warrant as it was required to, issuing a ‘be on the lookout’ alert for Simpson, and issuing a news release informing the public about Simpson.”
The lawsuit also discusses Vermont’s efforts in recent years at bail reform and other criminal justice reform initiatives aimed, at least in part, at reducing the state’s incarceration population.
“To be clear, Plaintiffs’ instant action cannot and does not seek to second-guess the wisdom of Vermont’s legislature in its response to its bed shortage for inmates or its
enactment of bail reform,” according to the lawsuit.
“Rather,” the filing stated, “Plaintiffs’ complaint simply seeks to hold the state of Vermont and Valley Vista accountable under the unique facts and circumstances of this case. If Vermont and Valley Vista are not held liable here under these facts, and if there is no civil repercussion, the consequences would be terrifying.”
The lawsuit stated that in September 2017 Meridian Behavioral Health, based in Minnesota, acquired Valley Vista, which has resulted in “a significant and negative impact on the care and services provided at Valley Vista.”
The lawsuit pointed to critical comments posted online by people who identified themselves as employees of the facility, as well as state inspection reports dating back to 2014 reporting various concerns at the center, from use of unauthorized personnel distributing medication to failing to meet staffing requirements.
“Valley Vista and/or Meridian ignored these complaints, concerns and problems and focused on maximizing their profits,” the lawsuit stated
Document cloud link to lawsuit:
Read the story on VTDigger here: Lawsuit alleges kidnap, rape could have been ‘prevented’ by Vista Valley, state.