Video voyeur charge reduced in plea deal
Toolbox
By Gordon Dritschilo Staff Writer - Published: June 10, 2009
MIDDLEBURY — A recent Middlebury College graduate had a charge of video voyeurism reduced to disorderly conduct.
Rupert C. Ralston, 23, pleaded no contest to the lesser charge Monday in Middlebury District Court. Police said Ralston made a video of himself having sex with a woman without her knowledge.
Ralston's attorney, Peter Langrock, said Ralston would pay a $500 fine and had already made an undisclosed but "substantial" donation to WomenSafe, a nonprofit that works to end violence against women.
"There are a lot of legal questions over whether what he did fell under the voyeurism statute," Langrock said. "A young college man, where there was alcohol involved, he made a mistake. We want to respect his privacy and, even more so, the victim's privacy, so we won't say any more than that."
Addison County State's Attorney John Quinn did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.
The greater charge would have carried a maximum of two years in jail and a $1,000 fine. Both charges are misdemeanors.
Police said the woman complained after learning of the video from mutual friends and that two of Ralston's friends gave statements saying they had seen the video.
Vermont's voyeurism law was passed in 2005 in reaction to a case of a man photographing an undressed 14-year-old girl through her bedroom window in Montpelier. It forbids photographing or filming people without their consent somewhere they would have a reasonable expectation of privacy.
gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com
11