Former Vermont Firefighter Pleads Guilty in Junior Firefighter Sex Case

BENNINGTON, Vt. (AP) -- A former Bennington firefighter has pleaded guilty to having sex with a 15-year-old junior firefighter in his department.

Thirty-two-year-old Shawn LaFountain, a former first assistant chief in the Bennington Rural Fire Department, pleaded guilty Thursday to sexual assault on a person younger than 16, a felony. In exchange, a second charge _ lewd and lascivious conduct with a child _ was dismissed.

The 15-year-old victim told police she had sex with LaFountain in December 2007 after the two exchanged explicit photos of themselves via cell phone and had other sexual contact.

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Information from: Rutland Herald, http://www.rutlandherald.com/

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Permalink Reply by Dennis Brown on March 13, 2009 at 11:06am
Boy what a black mark on the department and he should have know better 15 years apart
Permalink Reply by Shawna Syth on March 13, 2009 at 5:47pm
wow i mean that is screwed up big time.
Permalink Reply by John Rulli Jr. on March 13, 2009 at 5:52pm
I wish jail time on the sick f**k!
Permalink Reply by rfdjumper on March 13, 2009 at 6:32pm
I'm going to just shake my head on this one.

A 32 y/o has no business with a 15 y/o. That's just not right. Not that it's any better but at least a 32 y/o with a 18 y/o is LEGAL. Moral of the story. 15 will get you 20.
Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on March 13, 2009 at 6:47pm
Dumb shit....(oops, sorry web Chief) I hope they hang him....How a person like this gets into the Fire Service let alone become an Officer gets me....Paul
Permalink Reply by Kimberly A Bownas on March 13, 2009 at 7:40pm
I'm disappointed with the Assistant Chief, he should definitely have known better. This does give the department a bad name and I hope they can over come this. I wish that department the best of luck.
Permalink Reply by Daniel on March 17, 2009 at 11:48am
Theres got to be more to this story than meets the eye.

"After the two exchanged explicit photos.."

At 15 you know what you're doing, when you snap the photo and click send on the cell. At some point you've got to be held acountable for your own dumb decisions.

I would be curious to find out if they had a falling out of sorts and she was mad. Or of she just kind of mentioned it in passing to the local PD and they just had their hands tied with the situation and had to investigate..


All this of course is not condoning the act, she was still 15 and he was old.. Still illegal, immoral, and wrong.
Permalink Reply by Fire Chick on March 18, 2009 at 12:10am
that is nutz...he needs big jail time
Permalink Reply by Cody Baker on March 18, 2009 at 12:38am
OMG That just Pi$$es Me OFF TO no extent He needed to be locked up but the girl needs her phone taken away for showing him explicit photos.. All that did was provoke him into the sexual assault How pathetic.
Permalink Reply by Jeremy Bell on March 18, 2009 at 12:53am
he was thinking with the wrong head for sure. i hate to see that the dept is going to have to overcome this mistake.... that just shows how much power a naked woman has...best of luck to the dept and the suspect...dont drop the soap
Permalink Reply by brittany (phire saint) on March 18, 2009 at 12:58am
u kno i dont see how it would affect the dept cause it was one mans mistake not the whole dept
Permalink Reply by Dewayne and Diana Bean on March 18, 2009 at 2:19am
BAD! Needs to think a little more!

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