BURLINGTON – A Rutland mother has pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Burlington to traveling to Guatemala to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a teen in August 2022.
Nichole Reynolds, 31, is charged in connection with the international trip in August 2022, according to the federal indictment returned by a grand jury in Burlington on May 23.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia A. P. Cowles said in court Reynolds left her two children behind in Vermont and went to Guatemala for a month in August 2022.
She said the evidence against Reynolds – who is also known as Nichole Bishop – includes an airport interview in Texas as she returned home. There also is a search warrant for a Facebook account, witness statements and law enforcement reports, she said.
U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, including the Vermont office in South Burlington, conducted the international investigation.
Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle agreed Thursday to release the defendant on conditions. They include her remaining in Vermont, staying away from and having no contact with people under age 18, refrain from possessing child pornography and not go places where minors frequent or congregate.
Defense lawyer Allan J. Sullivan of Newport tried to object to a 24-hour home detention condition imposed by Doyle. Sullivan said Reynolds is an active parent with her two pre-teen children. Sullivan said a curfew or location monitoring might be better if some control was needed over Reynolds.
Doyle said he thought the case was appropriate for home detention, but agreed Reynolds could go out for certain limited obligations, including work, church and medical and legal appointments.
Sullivan said he thought a Pre-Trial Services report that indicated Reynolds had two failures to appear in state court was misleading. He said one time it involved a case that was sent instead to Court Diversion. The second case Reynolds had no recollection about it, Sullivan said.
He said the report from the PTS office also overstated her earlier drug use. He said Reynolds briefly was introduced to heroin by a roommate for a few months at age 22, but has not used illegal drugs in subsequent years.
Sullivan also questioned the need for a complete ban on alcohol while on pre-trial release and that moderate use should be allowed. Doyle said he was concerned that Reynolds also was taking psychiatric medication and the two should not be mixed. She also is banned for possessing any firearms or dangerous weapons.
Sullivan asked for 60 days to conduct his own investigation and to determine what, if any, pre-trial motions should be filed in the case.
He said Reynolds also had two electronic devices that were apparently seized and those would need to be reviewed.
Sullivan said much of the focus would be on acts that reportedly happened in Guatemala.
Doyle agreed to a July 29 motion deadline and noted there also might be psychiatric evaluations to consider.
The court was told that Reynolds had spent time at the Brattleboro Retreat, a private psychiatric hospital in Windham County.