This story by Jordan Cuddemi was published by the Valley News on Feb. 26.
[W]HITE RIVER JUNCTION — A 51-year-old Hartland man has pleaded no contest to stalking two young teenage girls in Woodstock last summer in his Chevrolet Astro van by driving by them slowly and photographing them.
David Beauregard first pleaded guilty to felony aggravated stalking and misdemeanor stalking during a hearing on Tuesday in Windsor Superior Court, but after Judge Timothy Tomasi pressed him on how many times he remembered stalking the girls, the attorneys asked for a break, and Beauregard changed his pleas to no contest.
“I can’t recall that I did it more than once,” Beauregard told the judge.
By entering his no contest pleas, Beauregard agreed that if Windsor County State’s Attorney David Cahill brought the case to trial, a jury could find that he stalked the girls on more than one occasion each.
In Vermont, someone is guilty of stalking if he intentionally engages “in a course of conduct consisting of following, monitoring or surveilling” another person and knew, or should have known, that the conduct would cause someone to fear for their safety or be emotionally distressed.
Beauregard, who was represented by attorney Cabot Teachout, had been employed on several occasions at the home where one of the girls lives, according to an affidavit filed by Woodstock police officer Joseph Lucot.
Just prior to imposing his sentence, Tomasi asked Beauregard if there was anything he’d like to say.
Beauregard again denied repeatedly stalking them.
He added: “I was guilty of taking pictures. I get a little carried away with the camera.”
Beauregard received a three-year deferred sentence on the felony charge and a suspended six- to 18-month sentence with three-years probation on the misdemeanor charge.
Tomasi said he would accept the plea agreement in part to spare the victims from testifying.
“It’s concerning behavior,” Tomasi said, “but you are taking responsibility for it.”
Beauregard must undergo a psychosexual evaluation and follow several probation conditions, including having no contact with the two girls, who were 14 at the time of the incidents, as well as any juveniles under the age of 18 without prior permission from his probation officer.
Beauregard initially faced two felony aggravated stalking charges, the second of which was amended.
The case started in August 2018 when one of the girls went to police and subsequently filed a temporary stalking order of protection against Beauregard, which a Windsor County judge approved. (A final order was later signed.)
Both girls filed statements with police that said Beauregard drove by them slowly several times and took pictures of them with a digital camera, according to the affidavit. On one occasion, the girls were together; other than that, they were alone. Both girls told police they feared for their lives.
Police in September executed a search warrant for Beauregard’s house and vehicle, and they located several devices at his home, including a digital camera, but none of the devices had media cards in them, according to an affidavit.
The earlier police affidavit filed by Lucot also had called Beauregard a “person of interest” in several other stalking-related cases, as well as a sexual assault case.
But Cahill on Tuesday said “no other charges are forthcoming.”
Beauregard had only a minor prior criminal record.
