By Lisa Scagliotti, Waterbury Roundabout
A man with local ties who spent the past two decades in jail for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old was released from state prison this week to reside in Duxbury, according to state sources.
Clinton Bedell Jr., 62, was charged in 1997 and convicted in February 1999 of felony sexual assault of a minor and sentenced to serve six to 35 years. During his time in prison Bedell made multiple unsuccessful appeals to the Vermont Supreme Court.
State Department of Corrections records show the end date of Bedell’s maximum time for incarceration was Wednesday, April 13, 2022. The state database that tracks the status of criminal offenders showed Bedell was held at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield and he is now listed as being released.
Also on April 13, he was added to the Vermont Sex Offender Registry.
Washington County State’s Attorney Rory Thibault confirmed that his office was aware of Bedell’s release. “His name and information appear on the Vermont Sex Offender registry, signifying he is in the community and is no longer incarcerated. The information we had prior to release is that he would be residing in the town of Duxbury,” Thibault said in an email to Waterbury Roundabout.
Bedell now is listed as “Category 2/Not high risk” on the registry. He also is listed as “non-compliant” and “non-treatment compliant.”
Vermont Department of Corrections spokeswoman Rachel Feldman could not offer any details regarding Bedell’s release or status this week beyond saying that once an inmate reaches the end of their maximum sentence, they are “no longer under Department of Corrections supervision.”
Notification is sent to law enforcement agencies when an offender is released from the corrections system and will be listed on the sex offender registry. Law enforcement does check in periodically with individuals listed on the registry to ensure compliance, Thibault noted.
However, a sex offender who is not categorized as high risk has no restrictions once released other than to provide their information to the offender registry. “There’s nothing. There’s no formal notification to the community,” Thibault said.
Feldman notes that the “treatment non-compliant” note refers to Bedell’s time while incarcerated. Thibault explained further: “The fact that he remained incarcerated until the end of his sentence would indicate he did not take part in any treatment or rehabilitation.”
Thibault said Bedell was eligible for release nearly 12 years before his sentence maximum of 35 years “based upon credit he received and application of Department of Corrections rules dating back to 1994 – a grand total of 4,306 days’ credit applied toward the maximum sentence (11.7 years). My office was also informed that Mr. Bedell was not determined to be a high risk to reoffend, rather he was determined to be moderate risk.”
Feldman explained that the Department of Corrections by statute has a high-risk sex offender determination committee that “makes these determinations based on the elements of the crime and validated risk assessments.” The committee’s review concluded that Bedell would not be designated as high risk, she said.
The Sex Offender Registry posts a photo of Bedell with long brown hair and eyeglasses from April 9, 2019. It describes him as a white man, 160 lbs., 5 feet 6 inches tall, with blue eyes.
The registry does not list street addresses. In Bedell’s case, it lists an address of “Waterbury, VT 05676.” The Waterbury zip code covers an area including parts of Waterbury, Duxbury, Bolton and Moretown.
Harwood Unified Union School District superintendent Brigid Nease this week said the school district had not received any notification of Bedell’s release and plans to reside in the Waterbury area. A check with several child care and preschool operators in Duxbury found that they had not received notification either.
“Mr. Bedell will not be released with a supervision component so the State Police role is solely that of fielding/investigating calls for service indicating a criminal violation has occurred,” said Vermont State Police Det. Sgt. Amber Keener at the Middlesex barracks.
The Vermont Crime Information Center’s website is part of the state Department of Public Safety. In addition to the searchable Sex Offender Registry database, the website has public information including numerous pages with safety tips and resources for parents and community members. The website is vcic.vermont.gov/sor.
