Updated on February 21, 2020.

A Winooski police officer pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he strangled, assaulted and repeatedly threatened his girlfriend.

Christopher Matott, 31, faces seven charges, including two felonies for aggravated domestic assault and unlawful restraint. Other charges include three counts of domestic assault and two counts of criminal threatening.

Matott did not speak during his brief arraignment in Vermont Superior Court in North Hero. Attorney Robert Katims entered pleas on his behalf and told Judge Samuel Hoar that his client had entered counseling.

Almost everyone in a Chittenden County courtroom on Thursday agreed that Dennis Phillips belonged in a psychiatric hospital.

On Monday, after twice going to the University of Vermont Medical Center for treatment and being discharged, the 62-year-old homeless man headed to Burlington City Hall. Inside, he lit newspapers on fire and broke historic windows with a hammer. He asked police who arrested him to take him to a hospital.
He wound up jailed on arson and felony criminal mischief charges. There, his behavior seemed to worsen, Chittenden County Sheriff's Department employees would later report. He smeared feces around his cell and, when sheriff's deputies attempted to take him to court, made animal-like sounds.

Those details were enough to convince prosecutors and his public defender, Sara Puls, that Phillips needed inpatient psychiatric care.

A homeless man with documented mental illness walked into Burlington City Hall on Monday, lit a newspaper on fire and damaged windows with a hammer, police said.

It happened Monday morning, shortly after Dennis Phillips, 62, was released from the crisis center at the University of Vermont Medical Center, according to an affidavit filed in criminal court. He'd visited the emergency department twice since the previous evening and was released both times.

Around 9:45 a.m. Phillips allegedly called 911 from inside the building and threatened to burn it down. He told the police dispatcher that he was lighting a fire because "the fucking hospital lets me go every time to [sic] go up there they won't help me," the affidavit said.

Updated at 12:44 p.m.

The Vermont Senate is poised to pursue an ambitious overhaul of the state's system for returning prisoners to the community.

Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick Sears (D-Bennington) said Wednesday that he'll seek to enact a series of reforms recommended earlier that day by a national research group charged with studying incarceration in Vermont. The proposals include replacing the state's complicated furlough system with one that would automatically release many nonviolent offenders upon serving their minimum sentence.

Such an overhaul could cut the state's prison population by up to 135 people and save as much as $14 million over five years, according to the Council of State Governments' Justice Center, which issued the recommendations.

"They're gonna be tough to implement, but my committee is ready to get going," Sears said. "We'll try to implement as much as we can."

A mental health counselor who worked in a Vermont prison is accused of having repeated sexual contact with an inmate, state police said.

Victoria Calogero, 31, was cited for sexual exploitation of an inmate. She's due to appear in a Windsor County courtroom on February 25.

According to police, Calogero worked at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield during 2017 and 2018. Authorities opened an investigation into her conduct in September 2019, Vermont State Police said in a press release Wednesday.

In a report to Gov. Phil Scott, Secretary of Human Services Mike Smith has proposed expanding state law to criminalize sexual relationships between Department of Corrections employees and those on probation, parole and furlough.

The report, which was delivered to the governor on Friday and released to the public Monday, includes several other recommendations to reform Vermont's troubled prison system. Smith called on the legislature to require drug testing for all corrections officers, and he said the state must reform the way it investigates employees accused of misconduct.

The secretary took particular aim at the state's practice of reaching confidential agreements with those accused of wrongdoing and shuffling them to other positions with similar pay. "While a settlement may be more expedient or limit financial liability to the state, there are clearly deeper repercussions," Smith wrote. "This practice needs to stop."

Smith penned the report in response to a Seven Days investigation into sexual misconduct, drug use and retaliation at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility, a South Burlington prison that houses the state's 135 female inmates. In that story and in subsequent reporting, Seven Days found that inmates and officers repeatedly reported wrongdoing, but state officials did not always take action.

"DOC has been working to develop a culture of continuous improvement," Smith wrote. "Clearly, these cases indicate the state must do more, faster and better, to support the work and hold people fully accountable. We cannot shirk our responsibility to address culture change."

Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George on Wednesday filed motions in Vermont Superior Court to reduce the sentences of two inmates incarcerated at the state's troubled women's prison.

Earlier this week, George reached change-of-plea agreements with another two female inmates, making them immediately eligible for release from the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility. She said she is continuing to work on cases involving five more women her office has sent to the South Burlington prison.

George said that a Seven Days investigation into alleged abuses at Chittenden Regional had prompted her to review the sentences of the roughly 22 women currently incarcerated at the prison whose cases originated in Chittenden County.

"Your story has been an eye-opener for a lot of us to really figure out whether we have people in this jail that don't need to be," she said. "So it's my way of trying to do my part to make this situation safer for some of these women — and make the community safer."Among the women who reached change-of-plea agreements with George's office was Penny Powers, a key figure in Seven Days' investigation. Powers told prison officials in October that a longtime officer at Chittenden Regional, Daniel Zorzi, had taken her and another woman to a Colchester cabin in July for a night of drug use and sex. Both women were out of prison at the time but still under the supervision of the Department of Corrections. Zorzi, who has declined to comment to Seven Days, is under investigation by the Vermont State Police.

Updated at 11:31 p.m.

Mike Touchette has resigned as commissioner of the Vermont Department of Corrections, according to Secretary of Human Services Mike Smith.

The news comes two weeks after Seven Days published an investigation into the state’s only prison for women. The report found a pattern of sexual misconduct, drug use and retaliation at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington.

“The decision to step down was not an easy one, as I continue to believe that we have been on the right path in making necessary changes and updates to our system of care for all in corrections,” Touchette told Seven Days in a written statement. “At this point in time, I feel that I need to find a better balance between my career and personal life.”

Smith said Wednesday that Touchette had tendered his resignation on Monday afternoon, explaining that fallout from the investigation had “taken an enormous toll on him.”

“He’s a human being,” Smith said. “He just felt that it was best for him and best for his department that he resign.”
The secretary said he had not asked for Touchette’s resignation and had not yet determined whether he would have asked the commissioner to continue serving. In an interview late Wednesday, Gov. Phil Scott said that he also had not asked Touchette to resign.

“I can’t say that I was shocked, but maybe more surprised at this stage,” the governor said, adding that it remained unclear whether Touchette was responsible for any wrongdoing at the department he ran.

Scott said that he had spoken briefly with Smith on Tuesday about the crisis in the state prison system. “He did offer that things are going to get worse before they get better,” the governor said.

Touchette first joined the department three decades ago as a corrections officer. He worked his way up the ranks to deputy commissioner and, in November 2018, was appointed commissioner.

According to Smith, Touchette has invoked his right as a longtime state worker to return to a classified job within the government. It was not immediately clear what position he would fill.

Smith said Wednesday that Deputy Corrections Commissioner Judy Henkin would lead the department until he named an interim commissioner. The secretary said he had contacted several people to gauge their interest in the role. “In this interim period, I want somebody in there that preferably would be [from the] outside,” he said.
Smith plans to make initial recommendations to the governor later this week about immediate steps the department could take to improve staffing and training. He also expects to announce an independent investigation to be conducted by an outside entity that could take as long as 120 days. Smith said that a permanent commissioner would not be named until that review is completed.

The secretary said that he did not immediately announce Touchette’s resignation on Monday because he expected to be unavailable Tuesday and wanted to ensure that he could answer questions from the press about the personnel change. VTDigger.org first reported the news Wednesday morning. Smith then notified Agency of Human Services staff by email.

“I want to express my gratitude for his years of service, continued service and commitment to the Department of Corrections,” Smith said in the email. “Many people have expressed their admiration for Mike, and their appreciation for the work he has undertaken to make the Department better and more successful.”

Scott said that while he did not know Touchette well, he had been “impressed with his background — that he came from the rank and file and worked his way up.” The governor added, “In the last couple of days, there have been a number of people from the community involved with corrections who have come forward and praised him for the work that he’s done.”

Touchette had been contemplating his role in the department since Seven Days’ investigation of Chittenden Regional was first published. At a forum last week in Burlington, he said he had considered resigning but had decided to stick it out.

“I have not done anything wrong,” Touchette said. “I stand by everything that I’ve done as commissioner. I’m very proud of the work that we’ve done. We have a lot more work to do.”

Though the commissioner initially suggested to Seven Days that he had been unaware of allegations of drug use by a supervisor at Chittenden Regional, subsequent reporting demonstrated that he had, in fact, been informed. The newspaper later reported that a former corrections officer had complained to Touchette about the abusive behavior of a senior DOC official. That official remained on staff for another four years.

Soon after Seven Days published its initial investigation, Smith temporarily removed the South Burlington women’s prison from the DOC chain of command — essentially relieving Touchette of his responsibility to run the facility. Henkin, the deputy commissioner, was tasked with overseeing Chittenden Regional from the secretary’s office.

Late last week, Touchette confirmed to Seven Days that the leaders of another prison, Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport, had been relieved of duty. On Wednesday, the newspaper reported allegations that an inmate who died at the Newport prison earlier this month had repeatedly implored nursing staff to help him in the hours before his death.

In his written statement, Touchette said he was “proud of the many accomplishments that I have either [led] or been involved in.” He said he had “worked extremely hard, along with many others who share my same vision for the needed changes to our current systems,” adding, “My hope is that those people will carry on my vision.”

The Vermont Department of Corrections placed the leaders of a state prison in Newport on administrative leave Friday, according to Commissioner Mike Touchette.

Superintendent Joshua Rutherford and assistant superintendent Scott Martin of the Northern State Correctional Facility were both relieved of command, Touchette said.

“I cannot comment on specifics, but a credible report was made that warrants further assessment,” Touchette told Seven Days in a written statement. He did not immediately return a call seeking additional comment.

The moves come during a time of turmoil for the Department of Corrections. Last week, Seven Days published an investigation of another state prison, the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility, revealing a pattern of misconduct and retaliation. In response, Human Services Secretary Mike Smith removed the South Burlington women's prison from the department's
chain of command and assumed operational control of it.
Touchette remains in charge of the state's five prisons for men, including Northern State. 

Greg Hale, the superintendent at Northwest State Correctional Facility in Swanton, will serve as interim superintendent at the Newport prison, Touchette said. Hale, in turn, will be temporarily replaced in Swanton by his two assistant superintendents.

This story will be updated.

Signs posted throughout Vermont's prisons encourage victims of sexual misconduct, physical violence and discrimination to dial what's known as the Offender Reporting Line.

"It is never too late to report!" one sign reads.

But unlike similar hotlines at prisons throughout the U.S., Vermont's does not connect to an independent, third-party organization. Rather, callers are directed to the central office of the state Department of Corrections. From there, according to Corrections Commissioner Mike Touchette, complaints are forwarded to a prison superintendent, deputy commissioner or other department official.

That's a problem, according to Lovisa Stannow, executive director of the Los Angeles, Calif.-based prisoner advocacy group Just Detention International.

"Corrections agencies must give prisoners a way to get crisis support from an outside entity, including through a hotline," Stannow said. "It is absolutely crucial that officials clearly explain to prisoners how such services work, and who runs them. If survivors can’t trust that their attempts to get help will be confidential, many will stay quiet."