By Stephen Seitz
LUDLOW—A Green Mountain Union High School senior is under house arrest following his arraignment in Windsor County criminal court on June 20.
According to court documents, Chester resident Ryan Stocker is accused of having sexually assaulting two of his fellow students in October of last year and this past May.
The earlier incident took place in Ludlow, according to an affidavit filed by Det. Sgt. Richard King of the Ludlow Police Department. The alleged victim told King that she and some others, including Stocker, were drinking beer at a friend’s apartment when she became dizzy and vomited “all over herself and the couch.”
The alleged victim told King she remembered being laid out on a mattress while she was wearing a tank top and jeans, and that the lights were on. She said that when she woke, Stocker was cuddling up next to her and trying to kiss her. She told him to stop and asked what was going on.
“We had sex,” she quoted Stocker as saying.
King wrote, “Since the incident she has suffered from nightmares. These dreams scared her because they are violent.”
The second incident is alleged to have taken place in Chester. This alleged victim said she arrived at a party in Cavendish at about 10:30 p.m. and later the party moved to a home on Gould Road in Chester.
According to the affidavit filed by Det. Andrew Brothers, “her friend Stocker asked if she wanted to come downstairs as everyone else had already gone to bed and this was the only available location.” The victim told police she felt sick from drinking and that this encounter happened at about 4 a.m.
She told police she was wearing tight pants, and did not want to sleep in them. She wanted to remove her pants and asked Stocker “not to be weird about it,” to which Stocker is said to have replied that he wouldn’t.
In what police described as an emotional statement, the young woman said she remembered Stocker kissing her and their having sex. Police said “she felt she had no control over what was happening.”
Brothers interviewed Stocker, who told him the victim started kissing him, and that he thought the encounter was consensual. He also told Brothers that the victim decided she didn’t want to go further and that they stopped and went to sleep.
The case came to light on June 8, when the Chester victim confronted the Green Mountain High School board about what was being done about her concerns.
“When I went to the administration I was told, ‘I’ll consider it.’ It’s been three weeks and I’ve heard nothing,” said the mother of one alleged victim. “That’s not good enough … I believe our urge to protect our students should be stronger than our need to protect our public image.”
The mother told the board there were plenty of materials available to educate the student body about sexual assault, and she would like to see some sort of support system at the school for its victims.
“Our only option right now is to educate, support, and make the best out of a very bad situation,” she said. “Our children should have a regular, normal high school career, without involving the idea that this just happens to everyone.”
Chairwoman Alison DesLauriers said the board would certainly be following up on the case.
Judge Theresa DiMauro did not impose bail on Stocker, but imposed conditions, including a 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew, and to have no contact with the alleged victims, among others.
Both Chester and Ludlow police have said more charges may be coming. Stocker’s next court appearance is on July 18.
