by Wayne Dyer

Republished from 2018 original. The author  is  a Groton resident and retired Vermont state trooper.

Recent news articles have brought up strong feelings about the 1984 Island Pond Church raid.  While they observed from a distance, I was involved in it before, during and after.  

On June 22, 1984, the day of the Island Pond Church raid, Rule 41 of the Vermont Rules of Criminal Procedure allowed a search and seizure warrant to be issued for only five things:  (1) evidence of the commission of a criminal offense, (2) contraband or things criminally possessed, (3) weapons or other things used to commit the criminal offense, (4) persons kidnapped or unlawfully imprisoned, or (5) a human corpse or fetus.  I taught laws of search and seizure and laws of arrest to Vermont State Police personnel at training sessions around the state.  I developed the standard forms used by us for all applications for search warrants.

I was a local state police detective and on several occasions was assigned to investigate complaints and serve court process on the church.  I had frequent contact with several of the leaders.  The State of Vermont had been trying to compel the church in various ways to conform to what they believed was required.  They wanted the church to register vital statistics and wanted the children to attend school and the parents to document ages, parental information, immunization records and education records. 

Church parents had very different views based on their religious practices and beliefs and refused to do those things and also chose to educate their kids and ignore the state.

Also, former church members reported child abuse.  What the former members called child abuse the church called discipline that was administered according to their beliefs of the traditional bible like the King James Version.

I was there earlier when the state executed a search warrant to gather evidence that the church was practicing medicine.  We found a recipe for things like soap and toothpaste.  One of their members had a degree in chemistry.  We found equipment for a complete dentist’s office.  They were hoping to get a member someday who was a dentist.  We found no evidence of them practicing medicine.

I was there when we executed a search warrant at a cemetery just off Route 114 on the Lyndonville road.  There was supposed to be a baby buried there without a permit.  We located an unmarked grave that contained a small wooden box and human remains.  An autopsy revealed it was a baby that was born alive but died almost immediately.  No signs of abuse were present. 

The church leaders did not give any information other than confirm a baby had died shortly after birth and was buried there without a permit.  No court action was taken.

An active concerned citizen named Suzanne Cloutier took in church members leaving the church and was vocal about what she perceived as child abuse.  She told me once that an unnamed member of the attorney general’s office had told her they wanted her to be like “a loose cannon” in the developing situation.

A few truancy cases went to district court in Guildhall with no changes or compromise on either side.  Some families left the jurisdiction to other locations within the church. 

At one point the number two person in the Attorney General’s office personally entered the case and thought he could get results.  Deputy Attorney General Charles Bristow, a former district court judge and future commissioner of the state police as well as a legislative draftsman, went to a hearing in Guildhall and managed to get a parent put in jail for refusing to be forthcoming with information.  The parent was released after a short time when retired Supreme Court Justice F. Ray Keyser came to Essex County as a substitute judge for the area. 

I believe that when Charles Bristow entered the fray the Island Pond church situation took on a whole new chapter.  From my perspective it was as if the heavy hand of the state was slapped down on the church.  The state was expecting these people to feel and fear this heavy hand and react by compliance or departure.  What Charles Bristow and his bureaucracy did not possess or understand was principle and conviction.  The result was as if the state had slapped a page of fly paper and could not let go.

I knew Charles Bristow from being the state police court officer at his court in Chelsea and later as commissioner of public safety.  Amazingly, he actually told me once that he had the power as commissioner to do anything that was not prohibited by law.  King George III would have liked that.  That is actually the reverse of the purpose of the constitution.  Government is created and restricted by the people.  It has only the power given to it by the people.  All sovereignty initially lies in the people, not the government.  

The night before the raid I got sent to the lodge at Burke Mountain.  People were gathering all over the place and more people arriving all the time. 

We soon found out they were social workers from the Social and Rehabilitation Services Department, nurses, police, lawyers and more. We would be staying overnight and everyone was given one phone call to let families know we would not be home that night. One of the social workers or nurses had a spouse who was a reporter for the Caledonian-Record and early the next morning the paper had reporters in Island Pond taking photos and notes.  

The state police brass told the few dozen troopers and detectives about our function for the next day.  Search warrants had been signed by Judge Joseph Wolchik and we would serve them precisely at 6 a.m.  Vermont law required search warrants to be served after 6a.m. unless the court authorized them to be served earlier. 

We were told that the social workers and nurses would be with the police to go into the houses and observe the children as they were awakened.  They would be looking for signs of abuse and the general condition and cleanliness of the houses. 

The search warrant authorized all the children that were present and under 18 years of age would be taken into custody and were going to be bused to Newport where they would be brought before the court.  Vermont juvenile law requires that when any child is taken into police custody they are to be brought immediately to their parent or guardian, or immediately before a judge.  The plan was for a judge to order them kept in custody and brought back to the Burke Mountain facility to be examined and tested for abuse by doctors.  That was about it for information.  We went to bed late.

I was watching and listening to all this and knowing things as I knew them, I was guessing that something new had to have been discovered.  Surely nothing up to this point to my knowledge would supply the probable cause for search warrants to be issued for this to happen.  Every contact I ever had with the church children I had seen, they were all friendly, courteous, supervised, well fed, and well clothed. Something new had to now be known.  I did not understand which of the five things specified in Rule 41 applied.

The next morning we were up early and after a quick breakfast were off to Island Pond.  My specific assignment was to wait until all twelve of the houses were entered and then begin to escort the buses to the houses that were scattered around the village.  I recall it seemed to be like Nazi soldiers picking up the Jews.  There had to be some new information and it had to be awful.

All this had to be frightening for all the church members.  The kids and their parents were being kept together and bused out.  I saw one little boy crying and looking at his father.  His father said, “You should not be afraid.  You are the apple of God’s eye and you will not be harmed,”  quoting  Zechariah 2:8; “…for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.”

Also, I was assisting some supervisors of the state agencies getting to some of the houses.  Bill Young was in one of the vehicles.  He was in charge of the White River Junction office of the Social and Rehabilitation Services Department.  He was later the department commissioner. 

I had worked with him on several child abuse cases and we were both on the Bradford Child Protection team.  He was with others who seemed to be supervisors as well.  Bill Young said to me, “What is going on here, Wayne?  These kids seem to be in pretty good shape.”  I told him, “These kids are not abused.”  I also suggested that his people could do this to the rest of the houses in town that had kids, and the church kids would be doing very well in comparison.

Approximately one hundred and forty troopers and social workers descended on the village.  At the end of the operation in Island Pond one hundred and twelve children were taken into custody and bused to Newport with their parents.  There were no incidents of assaulting or threatening the police, and everyone was cooperative.

When I arrived in Newport, I was assigned to stand by at the entrance of the municipal building.  There was an auditorium on the main floor and a few bathrooms downstairs.  The front steps emptied onto the sidewalk and Main Street directly across from the courthouse.    

Considerable time went by before any action was taken at the court.  Various attorneys began taking families across the street to the court.  Realizing the people needed to be fed resulted in some discussion with church leaders about food.  Cheese pizzas seemed to be the choice, and many boxes of them arrived.  Of course, with all those kids, the bathrooms were in great demand.  Dancing and games were played on the gymnasium floor, and conversations between the police and the captives were taking place. 

I was standing on the front steps of the municipal building next to a state police classmate of mine.  He was watching the action and activities and said to me, “This is BS.  These kids are not abused.”  

I heard social workers from SRS districts around the state.  They had been present when the children were taken into custody and had seen them in the homes.  I heard one say, “These are expensive tests these kids are getting.  I got lots of kids down in Bennington that could use them.  These kids do not look abused to me.  I’ve got abused kids in my district.”

Eventually there was some excitement in the church group and I heard one say that Judge Frank Mahady had thrown the whole case out and they would all be released.  That was soon confirmed. 

Another remarkable thing happened next.  The adults of the church began a quick clean up of all the trash accumulated and swept the floor of the auditorium.  I walked by the custodian who made some comment about his disbelief if he had not seen it himself.  I was released from the detail and went back to whatever my regular duties were.  

The incident was on the national news.

The next day I was called to state police headquarters and reported to the chief criminal investigator, Lieutenant Milford Ramey and the chief of the criminal division, Captain Richard Spear.  They told me I was going to be on a special assignment doing follow up on some things on the raid.  The first was to take a packet of information to Judge Mahady in Middlebury.  I told them I may not be the best man for the job, as I had many reservations about the legality of the raid.  They told me I was just what they wanted.  Lieutenant Ramey gave me the packet and gave me a message to personally deliver to Judge Mahady.

My next stop was the courthouse in Middlebury where I waited at the front desk to hand Judge Mahady the packet.  He came out and as I handed it to him I said, “I’ve got a message from Miff Ramey.” 

 Judge Mahady smiled and asked, “What is that?”

“Give ‘em hell, Skip,” I replied.

He laughed and went back to his chambers.

Lieutenant Ramey and Judge Mahady had worked together years ago when one was a detective and the other the state’s attorney in Windsor County.

My next day had me back at headquarters.  Lingering in my mind was my question about what new information had become known to cause this action by the state.  Rule 41 did not allow the state to seize one hundred and twelve children to be searched by the state to see if there was evidence of a crime.  What caused the heavy hand to be slapped down on these people? 

Information was flowing at Redstone and everyone was talking.  What I learned was that when the news of the search warrants being signed reached the state police hierarchy they declined being involved.  Pressure from the Orleans County State’s Attorney’s office, Attorney General’s office and Newport SRS office was being applied to Governor Richard Snelling.  His story to the press when everything kind of fell apart was that he was hesitant to order the state police to be involved,  but he got advice from several lawyers in his administration that all agreed that everything was kosher.  He ordered the state police to conduct the raid with the others. 

Even a non-lawyer like the governor could feel that something was not quite right.  Something not quite right was described by Judge Mahady as similar to King Herod killing all the male babies under the age of two in Bethlehem.

I asked my question about what new information became available to cause the search warrants to be applied for and issued.  They asked if I wanted a copy of the probable cause affidavit.  They placed a three hundred page document into my hand.  

I went back to my office in Bradford and read the documents.  The search warrant application was submitted by the Orleans County State’s Attorney’s office.  The investigator from that office was the affiant.  He was not a police officer.  These three hundred pages contained nothing new.  It was a rehash of all the old accusations and unsubstantiated reports. 

If there had been reason to charge anyone with a crime it would have been done then.  An affidavit for a search warrant can contain hearsay because a judge can make a judgment about the value and reliability of the facts presented.  Also, in Vermont law it is permissible for the judge to get more information than what is written in the affidavit.  A judge can accept sworn and recorded testimony over the phone as part of the probable cause in the case.  Judge Wolchik had asked the question on the phone about how many children would be taken into custody, and he was told it could be over one hundred.

Crime, like sin, is not a community act; it is an individual act.  The church at Island Pond cannot commit the crime of child abuse, but members could in several ways.  If that can be proven, then the person guilty should be charged and convicted and there should be an appropriate, lengthy loss of liberty.  For some reason Judge Wolchik signed the search warrants.  I did not see probable cause in the affidavit and I do not believe any other judge would have either.  A search warrant can only be issued for five things, and seizing one hundred and twelve children to have them looked at by doctors to see if they have been abused is not one of them.  I have seen two similar cases on national news when scores of children in the United States were rounded up and seized by the government and both of those turned out bad as well.

The only fall out politically from the raid was that the district director of SRS in Newport lost his job.  Judge Wolchik was sanctioned by the Vermont Supreme Court for lying under oath (let me repeat that) lying under oath to the judicial retention committee in the legislature on his next retention hearing.  He stated that he did not know how many children would be taken into custody on the raid.  That telephone tape recording made its way to the committee.  In my law enforcement circle he was then commonly referred to as “Lyin’ Joe” Wolchik.

The church at Island Pond did not bring any lawsuits against anyone or any agency for this horrendous action.  They just wanted to be left alone to live and worship God as they chose.  I believe one family from Georgia who was visiting the church on the day of the raid had children seized and did sue in federal court with the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union.  I do not know the outcome of that.

Section 1983 or Title 42 of the US Code makes a person liable for depriving another of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the U.S. Constitution and laws while acting under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage of a state. There is no statute of limitations in the federal statute. 

The office of the Orleans County State’s Attorney should have been sued.  The Newport office of Social and Rehabilitation Services, the Attorney General’s office and the State Police and any other state agency involved in the raid should have been sued.  The State of Vermont should have been sued.

The Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights were written to restrict government from searching and seizing citizens. James Madison wrote long ago that men need a government but are not angels, and angels do not govern men.  He believed that if government gets discretion some men will abuse it.  Ronald Reagan spoke against bringing the full power of government to bear on what they perceived as an urgent problem.  

Due process, which is defined as fundamental fairness, is always required.  The government cannot act to resolve a problem for them by violating due process rights of citizens.

June 22, 1984 was a dark day in the history of the State of Vermont.