(WFFF)
A Vermont man accused of abducting a woman and her child Saturday afternoon in New Hampshire before driving to a White River Junction hotel raped the woman in front of her five-year-old child, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court Monday.
Police say Everett Simpson, 41, of St. Albans, forced the woman and child into their car outside the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester. He then drove north into Vermont and made stops in Bradford and Fairlee, where he made the woman get out of the car and knock on doors to see if his wife was there.
The woman told police Simpson said he had “escaped” from the Valley Vista Rehabilitation Center in Bradford and was looking for his wife, whom he suspected of cheating on him. She told police Simpson was angry with the wife and seemed intent on hurting her.
At one point, the woman told police, Simpson pulled over and tried to sexually assault her in the car. She tried to get out of the car, with her pants around her ankles, according to the complaint. She screamed at joggers nearby, but Simpson drove off when they began to approach the vehicle.
The victim told police she convinced Simpson to take her to a hotel because she was afraid if he raped her at the side of the road, he would kill her and the child.
Simpson eventually took the woman and her child to the Comfort Inn in White River Junction and made her rent a room with her credit card. According to the complaint, after raping the woman, Simpson left her and the child in the room and stole her car.
Simpson left the hotel around 5:30 pm Saturday and the woman contacted police.
Simpson was arrested Sunday in Upper Darby, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia, after police spotted a Kia reported stolen from New Hampshire. The driver, later identified as Simpson, failed to pull over for police, who chased the vehicle to the parking lot of a nearby apartment complex, where it had been abandoned.
Officers set up a perimeter to search for the suspect when they received a second report of a stolen vehicle. A second chase began, which ended when the stolen vehicle crashed into a telephone pole.
The driver was taken to a hospital for evaluation, where police identified him as Simpson.
Simpson was arraigned Monday in Pennsylvania. Police in Upper Darby said upon his release from the hospital, he will be transported to George Hill Correctional Facility in Glen Mills, PA.
He is being held on $1 million bond for auto theft and $1 million for fleeing another jurisdiction. A hearing on the case has been set for January 17.
Simpson is known to law enforcement in Vermont. He was arrested September 13 in St. Johnsbury after he stole a car in New Hampshire and led police on a chase that reached speeds of 90 mph, according to police records.
After driving the car into a marsh, Simpson tried to escape on foot. Police say he struck a trooper on the head before he was brought under control.
He pleaded not guilty to various charges, including aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.
