Celia Roessler has filed a lawsuit against the Valley Vista treatment center in Vermont after a patient escaped from the facility and allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted her.
Court records state that Everett Simpson left the Valley Vista treatment center on Jan. 4 and kidnapped the woman and her 4-year-old son at the Mall of New Hampshire. He allegedly drove them to a Vermont motel and sexually assaulted the 23-year-old woman. Simpson then left for Pennsylvania and was arrested after crashing a second car he stole.
“Before leaving, Mr. Simpson took Celia’s driver’s license, wrote down her address, and told her that he knows where she lives and that if she contacts the police, he will find her and kill her,” the lawsuit said.
“The past couple months have not been easy, but the most important thing is we made it out alive, and my son was not physically harmed,” Roessler said.
“Ultimately, I have decided to speak out today because I have nothing to hide from or be ashamed of,” she added. “We are going to embrace the challenges we’ve been dealt, continue growing ever stronger, and move forward as best we can under the circumstances.”
The lawsuit names the state of Vermont and OAS LLC, the parent company of Valley Vista treatment center, as defendants. It alleges that the defendants were negligent in their actions.
“It has become clear that this entire tragedy could have easily been prevented, but for Defendants’ continued gross negligence and/or conscious disregard of the consequences of their actions,” the lawsuit stated. “It has also become clear that this is far from an isolated incident.”
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
If you would like information about personal injury claims, visit Cohen & Cohen to learn more.
