[B]ARRE — A Vermont State Police sergeant has denied a charge that he stalked his now-estranged wife for several months.
Raymond LeBlanc, 49, of Barre Town, entered a not guilty plea Thursday in Washington County Superior criminal court in Barre to the misdemeanor stalking charge. He was released on conditions, including that he stay away from the woman he is accused of stalking.
In an eight-page affidavit filed by Vermont State Police Detective Lt. Eric Albright in support of the stalking charge, he stated he began his investigation last month.
The detective wrote that based on his investigation, LeBlanc engaged in “tracking and monitoring” of the woman. Also, LeBlanc made “unannounced and without legitimate purposes appearances” at various locations where the woman had gone, the affidavit said.
Oreste V. Valsangiacomo Jr., LeBlanc’s attorney, said during the hearing Thursday that his client strongly denied the allegations against him and intends to fight the charge.
The defense attorney said his client’s action stemmed from trying to confirm that the woman was having an affair, and didn’t include violence or threats of violence.
The affidavit stated that at one point, LeBlanc tracked the woman to a Burlington International Airport parking lot where she was talking to another man.
“No gun was pulled, no badge was shown, nothing occurred,” Valsangiacomo said of that incident.
In a separate incident over the summer, the affidavit stated, LeBlanc showed up at a coffee shop in Boston where the woman was. The woman told police that LeBlanc came over, introduced himself to the man she was with, and then left, according to the affidavit.
Later that day, the alarm in her parked vehicle kept going off, and she later found out that LeBlanc could set it off with an app on his phone, the affidavit stated.
Albright, the detective, wrote in the affidavit that the woman’s vehicle had an OnStar tracking system and it was believed that LeBlanc had tracked her vehicle using an app on his phone through the OnStar network.
The woman also told investigators that LeBlanc had accessed her computer and messaged men in her Facebook account, the affidavit stated.
She also told police that she felt like she was watched, according to the affidavit. “She said she is constantly in fight or flight mode,” the detective wrote in the filing.
The woman told police that LeBlanc “constantly messaged, texted, emailed and called” her, subjecting her to verbal abuse and at times taking pictures of her and sending them to her.
According to the affidavit, the woman had obtained a temporary restraining order against LeBlanc on Dec. 13. State police said they investigated the conduct described in the temporary restraining order and determined that LeBlanc had stalked the woman from May through December.
A continuation of the hearing to determine if the restraining order will be extended is set for Jan. 15.
As he left the courtroom Thursday, LeBlanc declined comment.
LeBlanc had been assigned as a sergeant working out of the state police barracks in Middlesex.
Vermont State Police said in a statement issued at the time of LeBlanc’s arrest last month that, under terms of the collective bargaining agreement with the Vermont Troopers’ Association, he had been suspended with pay.
In court Thursday, his attorney, Valsangiacomo, said his client has actually requested a voluntarily leave of absence, without pay, which he believed had been granted.
“This is pretty significant for my client. He’s a career state police officer. He was told that if you found probable cause, which you did, that he would be fired,” the defense attorney told the judge.
“So, he took a voluntarily leave of absence,” Valsangiacomo said. “He’s got about year to go for his pension so he’s got an awful lot at stake here, plus his reputation has been tarnished.”
Adam Silverman, a state police spokesperson, said later Thursday in response to a question about LeBlanc’s status: “He has requested to be placed on unpaid leave. That request is pending but has yet to be approved.”
Assistant Attorney General John Waszak, who is prosecuting the case, declined comment Thursday.
