Charles F. Mould - Repeat Sex Offender - Typical Pedophile

two of the boys involved had expressed
"great fear that Mr. Mould will come in the night
to get them because they told on him."

A Pleasant Street man with two previous convictions for sex crimes is facing 37 felony charges — 26 of them punishable by life in prison if convicted — after police said he sexually abused three teenagers and two 11-year-old boys.

Charles F. Mould, 60, of Bennington, was charged with five felonies on Aug. 29 in Bennington District Court. At the time, Bennington County Chief Deputy State's Attorney Christina Rainville said the state expected to file more charges but simply hadn't had time based on the large numbers.

As of Sept. 3, Mould faces three charges of repeated aggravated sexual assault; 13 charges of sexual assault with no consent; five counts of aggravated sexual assault after a previous conviction for sexual assault; two counts of luring a child into sexual exploitation; five counts of aggravated sexual assault on a victim younger than 13; and nine counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child.

A misdemeanor charge of presenting indecent video material to a minor has been filed as well.

If convicted of all the charges against him, Mould would be facing 57 years in prison in mandatory minimum jail terms alone.

The new charges against Mould are all based on the same information used to file the five charges.

Bennington Police Detective Lawrence Cole said he, Bennington Police Chief Richard Gauthier and Vermont Department of Children and Families Investigator Kyle Hoover had met at different times last week with Mould, an 11-year-old boy, a 13-year-old boy and a 19-year-old man.

After the interviews, investigators determined Mould had committed multiple offenses against the three people with whom they spoke, a second 11-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy.

Mould was already listed on the Vermont Sex Offender Registry for a conviction of sexual assault on a child in 1991 and lewd and lascivious conduct in 2002. The registry lists Mould as "noncompliant" because he did not participate in sex offender treatment.

On Sept. 3, Christopher Montgomery, a lawyer with the Rutland firm of Abatiell Associates who has a contract to act as a public defender, asked to have the case reassigned to lawyers who handle serious felonies. Montgomery said the large number of serious offenses, punishable by life in prison, warranted the special defense attorney team.

Judge John Wesley, however, declined to grant Montgomery's request to withdraw. While Wesley said Montgomery could ask Vermont Defender General Matthew Valerio to reassign the case, he asked Montgomery to "scrutinize quite carefully" that decision.

A weight of evidence hearing scheduled for Sept. 3, to determine whether Mould would continue to be held without bail, was rescheduled because of the uncertainty over Mould's representation and the addition of more than 30 new charges on that date.

Montgomery told Wesley he would try to find out by Sept. 5 whether he would remain on the case.

Rainville asked that the weight of evidence hearing be scheduled as soon as possible. She told Wesley two of the boys involved had expressed "great fear that Mr. Mould will come in the night to get them because they told on him."

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte