BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - The Vermont National Guard is investigating after one of its members was charged with sexual assault and condemns the alleged behavior as “abhorrent” and “repulsive,” said Adj. Gen. Gregory Knight.
The weekly newspaper Seven Days first reported on the accusations against Sgt. Daniel Blodgett. He is charged with aggravated sexual assault without consent and aggravated sexual assault using drugs to impair, according to the Franklin County court. Blodgett has pleaded not guilty.
“The actions described have no place in the Vermont National Guard or in our military,” Knight said during a virtual town hall meeting Thursday evening. “Anyone who chooses to behave in such a way - they don’t deserve to be in uniform.”
Blodgett’s public defender, Rosie Chase, said by email that she thinks “the press has a duty to remind the public that he is innocent unless and until he is proven guilty.”
The Guard is also working to identify soldiers who break the law, WCAX-TV reported. Two certified law enforcement officers started their roles as provost marshal on March 6, said Maj. J. Scott Detweiler, acting state public affairs officer for the Vermont National Guard, in an email.
“Even though we, as an organization - and it’s also (Department of Defense) policy that when a member is arrested or charged with a crime, we have a duty to report, it doesn’t always happen,” Knight said. “Even though we have other mechanisms in place - periodic background checks for security, clearances, things like that - sometimes, we don’t catch everything so the provost marshal team will engage in that in the near term.”
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This story has been corrected to reflect that two officers serve as provost marshal, not one.
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