An Essex Police officer has been cited into court on a charge of voyeurism, according to Vermont State Police.
Cpl. Lance Martel, 36, of Highgate Center was issued the citation through his attorney Friday, state police said in a news release.
State police said they launched their investigation in June. Essex Police Department contacted the agency after getting an allegation of voyeurism against one of its officers, according to the release.
The investigation, according to state police, revealed that in summer 2020 in an “online setting” Martel took and possessed “a digital image of an intimate area” of a woman he knew without her consent.Â
State police declined to comment further on the investigation.
More information is expected to be released when a police affidavit in support of the charge becomes public following Martel’s arraignment. That hearing is set for Dec. 16 in Chittenden County Superior criminal court.
Martel has been suspended from his job, according to state police, who referred additional questions about his employment to the Essex Police Department.
Neither Essex police Chief Ron Hogue nor Martel could immediately be reached Friday for comment.
Martel started working with the Essex Police Department in May 2015, according to his LinkedIn page.