ORWELL — A 68-year-old Orwell man was released on $50,000 bail on Monday after pleading innocent in Addison County Superior Court, criminal division, to a felony charge of sexual assault without consent, allegedly perpetrated against the same juvenile victim for which he has already been charged with aggravated sexual assault on a minor.
The case in question was ordered transferred to Addison County from Windsor County. The alleged assault reportedly took place on April 20 (Easter Sunday) at a home in Chester and was investigated by Chester Police Department Officer Matthew Wilson.
The accused, Rein Kolts, had already pleaded innocent on May 13 to a felony count of aggravated sexual assault on a minor stemming from alleged assaults involving the same 13-year-old New Hampshire girl — who is related to Kolts — that had allegedly taken place during the past two years at Kolts’ residence in Orwell. Windsor County Superior Court Judge Karen Carroll on June 23 ordered the Chester case transferred to the Addison County Courthouse to combine with the Orwell case.
It’s a case that has prompted Addison County prosecutors and Shoreham Elementary School officials to reach out to the families of students who might have interacted with Kolts, who until recently was a bus driver and girls’/boys’ basketball coach at the Shoreham school.
Court records indicate the young victim told police that Kolts had assaulted her “numerous times over the past two years at the Kolts’ residence in Orwell, Vermont,” in addition to the alleged incident in Chester. The girl claimed the first assault took place during the summer between her fifth- and sixth-grade years, according to court records.
All of the alleged assaults involved intercourse, according to police reports.
Kolts on Monday was released on bail on various conditions, including that he have no contact with the victim or with any minors younger than 16, and that he stay away from playgrounds, schools, amusements parks or any other areas where children might congregate.
If convicted on the aggravated sexual assault on a minor charge, which is a felony, Kolts faces penalties of up to 25 years in jail and up to a $50,000 fine.
If convicted on the felony sexual assault without consent charge, he faces penalties of three years to life in jail and up to a $25,000 fine.
Kolts is being represented by Middlebury-based attorney Peter Langrock, according to court records.