Judge Frees Accused Teen Rapist: Rules Evidence Is Great in Violent Gang Attack | Local News

BENNINGTON – A Bennington judge on Friday again released a teenage defendant facing a double life sentence for curfew charges to the scene of an alleged gang rape after concluding there was enough evidence for a trial.

Timothy Veach, now 18, is charged with sexual assault without consent and aggravated sexual assault with more than one person. At his arraignment in February, he was initially released into the hands of his grandmother with a 24-hour curfew, despite facing two charges that could result in life in prison. An April evidentiary hearing was continued until Friday, when the judge would then decide whether Veach would be held as an adult without bail or released under a curfew while he awaited trial. This continuation on Friday led to his further release.

Judge Kerry McDonald-Cady began by reading numerous reasons why Veach should be held without bail in the case. This included the violent nature of the crime, witness statements, the victim’s statement to police and evidence that Veach and another person bragged about their conquest afterwards. She then cited several other reasons why he should be released under curfew, including his age, his “slight build” and his “looking like a teenager.” There is a risk of absconding and he has not taken part in any violence “for almost a year” since the incident in May 2023.

After weighing her decision, McDonald-Cady then released Veach on conditions and a curfew, to the dismay of prosecutors and the young victim sitting in the back row.

“This is not a case of boys wanting to be boys,” prosecutor Jared Bianchi said during the hearing. “We demand arrest without bail as it is a rape case. We ask because in the event of a possible life sentence, it is assumed that he will be held without bail. In this case, the victim was dragged to be raped that night when she was incapacitated. It (the community) was not a safe place that night and there is no reason to believe it is a safe place now.”

Veach’s defense attorney, Daniel McGuire, had asked the judge to maintain the status quo of release with a curfew.

Bianchi further urged the court not to ignore the “incredibly violent, incredibly dangerous nature of the crimes committed here.”

“The status quo in this case is not safe,” Bianchi said. “Don’t discount the risk just because Mr. Veach is young. This isn’t kid’s stuff. He is an adult. This was not verbal coercion. This was waiting for someone to become so vulnerable that they couldn’t resist. This plan took hours to implement. I ask the court not to send him back to the same room where he raped his victim.”

His argument did not convince the judge. A 24-hour curfew was ordered for Veach, with exceptions for medical, legal and counseling services. The judge also ordered that he not have any contact with the victim or any witnesses. She also added a new condition that he could not come within 300 feet of the victim.

The victim sat with a trial attorney in the back of the courtroom, quietly wiping tears from her eyes.

A separate “interests of justice” ruling also reached the same conclusion: Veach should remain free from any incarceration.

According to the victim’s sworn statement in a police affidavit, on May 25, 2023, the victim was drinking Twisted Teas with a group of friends after work. The next thing she remembered was waking up in Veach’s house, a house she had never been to before, with no memory of how she got there or what happened while she was there. When she woke up, the victim remembered seeing Veach and another person, Arron O’Shea, both naked and remembered not wearing pants.

Later that day, the victim went to the hospital and discovered that the tampon she had been wearing was stuck inside her. One of the friends who was at the party confirmed that the victim was drunk and passed out. Another witness told police that both Veach and O’Shea were “high-fiving” each other later that morning and bragging about “marking” the victim, the affidavit states.

Veach’s defense filed a motion in family court in February to consider Veach a “juvenile delinquent.” No decision has been made yet. If Veach is considered a minor in the eyes of the law, the criminal case will be dropped and all proceedings will be privatized. Sentencing guidelines, prison terms, punishment and incident records remain confidential. Under Vermont law, individuals may be considered juveniles up to age 22 in some cases.

Veach currently faces a possible life sentence with a total of at least 13 years in prison if found guilty on both counts as an adult. Similar charges are currently pending against Arron O’Shea, 19, of Bennington, the second person in the attack.

Both men were ordered by court to provide police with DNA samples to compare with those found on the victim. These results are still pending.

After the hearing, Veach left the courthouse with his grandmother. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for June. If the family court decides that Veach can claim the youthful offender designation, this hearing and all others will be expunged from his criminal record. There are currently no detention facilities for juvenile offenders in Vermont.