Defendant is State of Vermont lawyer and husband of Chittenden County chief deputy state’s attorney
By Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First
The now former Winooski High School assistant girls’ soccer coach pleaded not guilty in Vermont Superior Court in Rutland on Wednesday to felony charges of lewd and lascivious conduct and child luring in connection with his coaching duties at the Chittenden County school.
Kane H. Smart, 44, of South Burlington is the husband to Sally Adams, chief deputy state’s attorney in Chittenden County and works fulltime as an enforcement and litigation attorney with the Agency of Natural Resources in Montpelier, records show.
Vermont State Police said they arrested Smart when he showed up Wednesday morning with his Burlington lawyer, Frank J. Twarog, at the Rutland barracks for processing in the case. Smart was issued a court citation ordering him to appear for an arraignment in Vermont Superior Court at 12:30 p.m.
Judge Alexander Burke released Smart on a $75,000 unsecured bond and ordered him to have no contact with the victim and 9 other people involved in the case, including former head coach W. Roger Prescott.
Burke imposed a nightly curfew for Smart at his Joy Drive home from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. and told him to avoid all minors except incidental contact and also youthful family members unless an adult is present.
Smart’s work status at ANR was unclear Wednesday afternoon. An ANR spokeswoman said the agency had just learned about the arrest and was consulting with human resources. Records show he lived in Waterbury before moving to South Burlington.
Since Jan. 8, Vermont State Police, in cooperation with the Vermont Department for Children and Families, began investigating reports of sexual abuse that were reported to have occurred on multiple occasions in 2021 in Winooski and Burlington, state police spokesman Adam Silverman said.
A therapist for a Winooski soccer player reported the incident to authorities, Detective Sgt. Lauren Ronan said in an 11-page affidavit. The player reported her coach had inappropriately touched her, Ronan said.
Ronan used an inquest subpoena to obtain emails exchanged by Smart and the student, records show. While some emails went to multiple recipients, Ronan said she “visually estimated hundreds of emails/email threads. On Nov. 1, 2021 there were 11 emails between 7:39 p.m. and 11:02 p.m., Ronan said.
Upon notification of the allegation in 2025, the Winooski School District took administrative action and temporarily suspended Smart from having contact with children at the school pending the outcome of the investigation, Silverman said.
With Smart’s wife the number two prosecutor under State’s Attorney Sarah George, officials had the case referred to the Rutland County State’s Attorney Ian Sullivan for review. Ronan, who is assigned to the Shaftsbury barracks, was brought in to lead the investigation.
Sullivan and Deputy State’s Attorney Daron Raleigh appeared for the state during the court arraignment.
Smart is charged with knowingly soliciting, luring or enticing a child under age 16 to engage in a sexual act between Sept. 1, 2021 and Nov. 20, 2021, according to one of the felony charges. The second count maintains he actually committed a lewd act with a girl under age 16 to gratify himself.
If convicted, Smart could be sentenced on the lewd conduct charge between 2 and 15 years with a fine up to $5,000, while the luring count carries up to 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Ronan said when she reached out to try to interview Smart in late November her phone call went to his voicemail. A short time later Twarog, a longtime defense lawyer, returned the phone call and said his client would not be talking and all future communication should go through Twarog.
Ronan said the girl reported initially she thought the touching was accidental, but eventually she realized it was intentional. He would pull on the waistband on her shorts, grab her “butt or breast” and push his “groin into her butt,” the affidavit said.
The victim reported that Smart later would make sexual jokes and inquired about her sex life, Ronan wrote. She said the girl also noted Smart reportedly made sexual jokes with other players on the soccer team.
The girl said she believed Smart was “grooming” her and she stopped communicating with him, but he resumed his conduct the following soccer season, Ronan wrote. The girl told him to stay away.
Smart actually became the head coach for a while when Prescott, who is a lawyer, came down with COVID, Ronan said.
The girl also reported about an incident at a UVM soccer game when the Winooski players were attending at Virtue Field on Nov. 10, 2021. They were all in the bleachers under a large waterproof blanket and they sat next to each other when she said she was improperly touched, court records note.
The girl confided with her some of her teammates, who also said they felt uncomfortable around Smart, Ronan wrote.
In one of the emails about going to a UVM soccer game Smart indicated he might have to be the driver and buy the tickets and food.
“And as far as attendance, I leave that to you, really. You’re the only one I’ve mentioned it to, but understand that there’s safety in numbers. I was hoping, though, that I wasn’t put in a position of justifying to others (eg, Roger, WHS, players, police etc.) how attendance was determined; I mean, I don’t want people alleging special treatment or unfair exclusion of anything that,” an email said in part.