Montpelier woman charged with lewd conduct for alleged relationship with teen

MONTPELIER — A woman police say was involved in a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl faces a felony charge.

Hannah J. DeClark, 19, of Montpelier, has been charged with lewd conduct with a minor under 16, court records show.

Montpelier police were contacted by a woman in May claiming DeClark was involved in a romantic relationship with a 15-year-old girl, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

The woman allegedly said she did not have “concrete evidence” of a physical relationship but that there were rumors to go with pictures and videos of the two she found on social media sites.

Officers spoke with the parents of the girl allegedly involved in the relationship, who gave officers permission to interview the girl.

A forensic interviewer spoke with the victim in September while officers watched from another room.

During the interview, the victim said she and DeClark had been intimate on several occasions, beginning in December 2022. The victim was shown a text message exchange between her and DeClark in which sex was discussed, but the victim denied ever having sex with DeClark.

Officers interviewed DeClark several weeks later after having already spoken to her briefly several months before. During that first conversation, DeClark allegedly denied being involved in any relationship with the victim.

During the Sept. 30 interview, officers informed DeClark that a search warrant had been served to obtain Snapchat messages sent between her and the victim. They told DeClark that among those messages were photos and videos of the two being intimate.

Officers asked DeClark about the message that discussed sex. DeClark allegedly told officers that sex could describe one person touching another.

DeClark then admitted to having touched the victim inappropriately several times, the affidavit says.

During the interview, officers confirmed DeClark knew the victim was 14 at the time of the first sexual contact between the two. Officers then explained to DeClark that a 14-year-old could not legally provide consent to any type of sexual contact.

DeClark told officers she understood that what she had been involved in was a crime and agreed to begin a counseling program. She was not arrested, but was served a summons to appear in court.

She is scheduled for a preliminary hearing before Magistrate Judge R. Todd Garbett on Wednesday.

If she is found guilty, DeClark would face up to life in prison.

Though DeClark has been charged with this crime, it does not necessarily mean she committed it. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.