Sheriff Bohnyak Sworn In;

Works to Restore Deputy Position

By Sandy Cooch

On Jan. 31 at 4 p.m., Bill Bohnyak of Randolph was sworn into office as the new Orange County Sheriff.

Assistant Judge Prudence Pease presided and a large crowd of family and friends were on hand. On behalf of the deputies, Pete Jorgensen of Tunbridge presented the new sheriff with a handsome sign for the lawn of the brick sheriff’s department building, just off Chelsea’s north green. It says, "Bill Bohnyak, Sheriff."

On Feb. 1, his first official day on the job—Bohnyak has been acting sheriff since April—he worked 13 to 14 hours.

"It was a good day," he commented soberly, but with a little smile, this week.

Feb. 1 started with Bohnyak testifying at Orange District Court in a felony sexual assault case he started investigating in 2005, as the county’s only full-time "state deputy," under then-Sheriff Dennis McClure.

In Vermont, county sheriff’s offices have only two full-time positions paid by the state: One is the sheriff and the other the "state deputy." All the other—part-time—deputies hired by the sheriff are funded via patrol contracts with towns, or with other entities, such as highway construction companies.

State deputies spend about half their time transporting prisoners, leaving the other half to conduct investigations and assist other agencies with their cases, said Bohnyak.

Bohnyak, the OCSD state deputy for seven years, was heading home from a transport to St. Johnsbury in 2005, when he was dispatched to Vershire for a complaint of a sexual assault.

An 11-year-old girl, Bohnyak said, alleged she had been sexually assaulted by Everett Jones, now 60, of Corinth, at his residence.

As the complex investigation progressed, Bohnyak said this week, another three victims stepped forward, including Jones’ daughter, step-daughter and a former babysitter. Each alleged they had been sexually assaulted by Jones 20 years ago.

Last Thursday’s trial focused on the allegations of one victim, Jones’ step-daughter, who was flown here from Oklahoma to testify.

After hours of testimony, including two hours from the victim, the jury entered its deliberations at 2 p.m., and emerged at 4 p.m. to announce a unanimous verdict of guilty, on a charge of "aggravated sexual assault, repeated," Bohnyak said.

Because the case that he and Orange County prosecutors had built demonstrated "a pattern or a common scheme" in Jones’ assaults on his victims, there was no statute of limitations on the crimes, Sheriff Bohnyak explained this week,

"This is dealing with an actual victim who finally got a piece of justice," he said.

No State Deputy?

The case, Bohnyak said, underscores the importance of the role of the state deputy in the sheriff’s office.

"It shows what a state deputy can do—it was a large case for Orange County."

Unfortunately, he said, Orange County may lose funding for its state deputy.

Bohnyak said he was advised in January by Jane Woodruff, the executive director of the State’s Attorneys and Sheriff’s Association, that Orange County’s state deputy position would be held open, for an undetermined time, due to budgetary constraints.

This came as a jolt to Bohnyak and his OCSD staff.

Since April, when former Sheriff McClure left the office due to illness and State Deputy Bohnyak became the interim sheriff, Bohnyak has been working overtime to fulfill the duties of both jobs.

Other deputies pitched in, he said, to assist with transport duties. He and others used up their vacation hours working, in the process, he said.

Everyone was willing to do so, Bohnyak indicated, because they assumed relief would come this month, when Bohnyak was sworn in and could tap a new state deputy.

"In light of what’s going on, with all the criminal activity in Orange County, including armed robberies, it’s going to be a huge loss," said the sheriff.

Bohnyak noted that his predecessor McClure was also told seven years ago that he would have to do without a state deputy. Bohnyak is lobbying—just as McClure did—to get the position reinstated.

In the meantime, the OCSD and its lockup will remain open 24 hours a day seven days a week, he noted. Prisoners will continue to be transported, but Bohnyak now, more often than not, has to rely on deputies from other counties to do the job.

"I feel bad for the citizens," he said. "We do numerous after-hours court restraining orders, assist families in need, and provide other services."

The state deputy post, he emphasized, "is more than a transportation position; this is a public safety position."

Legislators Alerted

Orange County Sen. Mark MacDonald this week recalled that the state deputy position was restored last time, after enough people in Montpelier were "eventually persuaded" that "like Lamoille County, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department provides real law enforcement services."

MacDonald said the sheriff’s department reduces the demand on state police, and he pointed out that the OCSD was responsible for "breaking" the big arson case of 2002 that saw more than a dozen area camps burned.

"They were on it," MacDonald said.

"I applaud Sheriff Bohnyak," the senator added. "He’s making the case and we’re working on it."

MacDonald said he was hopeful that the state deputy position would be restored.

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