Updated at 5:32 p.m.
Windsor County Sheriff Ryan Palmer, already charged with several sex crimes, faces additional allegations of sexual misconduct after more women have come forward with accusations against him, according to Vermont State Police.
Palmer, 39, of Windsor, pleaded not guilty in late January to seven charges, including lewd and lascivious conduct, two counts of soliciting prostitution, two counts of aggravated stalking with a deadly weapon and two counts of obstructing justice.
State police, in a press release Thursday, said additional women have reported that they were victims of sexual misconduct by Palmer.
As a result of the continuing investigation, the release stated, state police detectives have filed a new affidavit in support of additional charges against Palmer. There are five more counts against him, including soliciting prostitution and lewd and lascivious conduct.
“The charges allege Palmer paid a woman on multiple occasions to participate in sex acts, and that he sent unsolicited sexual material to another woman,” according to the press release. The new affidavit was submitted to the Bennington County State’s Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the Palmer case, the release added.
Judge Cortland Corsones found probable cause on the five new charges Thursday, according to court filings. An arraignment on those new charges is set for April 24, when Palmer will have a chance to appear in court to enter an official plea in response to the charges.
Some of the new charges stem from the earlier set of allegations against Palmer. Others relate to the allegations raised by the two women who more recently came forward and talked to police. As a result, Palmer now faces a total of 12 charges.
Daniel Sedon, Palmer’s attorney, stated in an email Thursday that “we are reviewing them as well as the new affidavit now,” referring to the additional charges. He later added, “We will speak to them next Friday at arraignment.”
Palmer could not be reached Thursday for comment.
The earlier charges against Palmer alleged that he paid three women to watch him perform sex acts in person or online, according to charging documents. He also was accused of stalking two of them by driving past them in his cruiser, and after they ended contact with him, the documents stated.
In the affidavit in support of some of the new charges, Vermont State Police said a woman contacted police about a week after Palmer’s January arraignment and said she had known Palmer since 2013 when he then worked as a Ludlow police officer.
She told a detective that in 2020 Palmer started reaching out to her online and wanted her to watch him perform a sex act and then paid her for doing so, the affidavit stated. The last time he paid her for watching him perform a sex act was in early January of this year, according to the affidavit. This was only a couple of weeks before he was arrested and charged on the earlier offenses.
The woman estimated that Palmer had paid her a total of about $2,000 between 2020 and earlier this year, the affidavit stated.
In one instance in 2025, the woman reported that Palmer was wearing his law enforcement uniform when he reached out to her online and then paid her $50 to watch him perform a sex act, according to the affidavit.
The woman told the detective “she was surprised to see him in uniform doing this and texted her friend about it,” the affidavit stated. The affidavit included an image reportedly showing that text message.
The woman said over time Palmer also paid her to have sex with him, the affidavit stated.
Shortly after his arraignment in January, the Vermont Criminal Justice Council, which regulates law enforcement in the state, temporarily revoked Palmer’s law enforcement certification.
Palmer, a Democrat, was elected in 2022 to a four-year term. Palmer has said that he has stepped away from his work and that another person in the office is now running the day-to-day operations of the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department.
Correction: This article originally misstated who allegedly performed sex acts and who watched.
